Project 173
by reynawesome22
Summary: Project 173 was created to be a demigod. His own body was genetically synthesized made by Demi Industries, to replicate a famous demigod. He was kept a secret from society, treated like an animal. And now he has escaped. Other genetically synthesized demigods are tasked by Demi Industries to hunt him down. Project 173 stands no chance. R
1. Escape

"So. How are you feeling? Any strange symptoms?" the doctor asked. I laid in my bed feeling the constant battering within my mind. I clutched my head and whimpered. I was starting to see the images again. A giant furry man with the head of a bull. A giant skyscraper under siege. An enormous trireme with a bronze dragon head on the front. A beautiful blonde girl kissing me underwater. "173! You need your medicine, take it before I call security."

I slowly got up from my bed and over to my psychiatrist. He held out a pill container and I took it, studying it warily. I hated taking these. They tasted awful and I would get even more nauseous than I was before. "Well? Security or pills?" he asked.

I glared at the doc but I took two pills out anyway. I popped them in my mouth and grabbed the glass of water. Suddenly my vision went red and I spat the wet, dissolving pills at his face. They hit each of his eyes with dead accuracy. The doc screamed and pulled a gun out but I smashed the cup on his face.

I held back the bile as I assessed the damage. Chunks of glass were sticking everywhere on his face, his blood pouring down on my rubber room. And then I realized. This was my chance for escape. And I had a feeling it would be my only one after this incident.

I grabbed the gun and shot the door knob to my rubber room. I kicked it open and to my left saw a security guard holding a pistol, stalking towards me. I quickly shot a round into his head. I ran forward and took his equipment. A flashlight, a key card, some Dubble Bubble chewing gum, and another pistol.

I felt an odd shiver as I held the guns up. Was I meant to do this? Am I a killer? I opened the door with the key card and shot two more guards. The elevator required fingerprints, so I pressed the dead man's finger on the pad. It opened and I entered. I've never been in an elevator before but I knew exactly how to use it. I listened to the elevator music and had another vision.

_I was waiting in a similar elevator with two other people. One was a guy with legs of what seemed to be a donkey. The other was the same blonde girl. I was surprised to see her crying, and I tried to wipe the tears from her stormy gray eyes, but my body resolutely stood still. "I hope you're happy." She said._

I broke from the memory as I heard the intercom blare out, "Attention all personnel. Project 173 has escaped and is heading towards the lobby. Do not terminate him, I repeat do not terminate him."

I heard voices from the other side of the doors as the elevator came to a halt. I jumped and pushed the emergency exit top off. I climbed up and slowly closed it silently as half a dozen S.W.A.T. commandos entered the elevator. I held onto the cables that held the elevator and shot an entire clip into it. The lift immediately flew down, carrying the commandos down to their end.

I swung forward on the cables trying to gain enough momentum to drop myself in the open elevator doors. I went in another vision_. I was swinging, chain to chain, tying a fat man in a loincloth. I fell down to the ground and stabbed him in the gut with a bronze leaf shaped sword. Sand poured out from his body instead of blood and he struggled against his bindings until the sand in his body ran out, leaving a dirty loincloth._

When I woke from the trance I was in the lobby, dead bodies all around me. Some were security. Others were probably staff members. I suddenly felt sickened with myself and threw the guns I had from my hands away. I leaned over a man and searched him. He had car keys and a wallet filled with cash. I ran out of the building and pressed the unlock button on the key. A silver sedan's lights flashed and I went inside it.

It was then when I realized that it was raining. The first time I ever saw rain. I looked up from the driver's seat and looked through the sun roof. There were gray clouds spilling raindrops everywhere. I checked the car clock. 7 o' clock. Maybe I would even get to see the moon and stars. As my hands automatically started the car I had yet another vision.

_While I was driving I looked over to my right and saw a girl. She had her red hair pulled back in a ponytail and was wearing a white blouse over what probably was a swimsuit. She was nice looking. Maybe even better looking than the blonde girl. "Oh pull up right here!" she exclaimed._

_ I parked on a ridge that looked over an ocean. My mind pulled up the Atlantic as I looked over it. The water sparkled and looked as smooth as glass. So, I thought, not only do I get to see actual rain. I get to see the Atlantic Ocean. The girl turned to me and said, "So. About that invitation" My expression must've been grave because she quickly added, "Percy. I know the timing I bad. But it's always bad for you, right?"_

The sound of a helicopter woke me. I panicked and put the car in reverse. I pulled away from the parking spot, and drove forward. I hit the streets while I saw a helicopter in a side view mirror. The stubs on the sides of the helicopter began to flash, and I knew they were firing on me. Bullet holes appeared on the roof of the car but I made a sharp turn to the right, hiding behind a construction site. The chopper over shot me and went right past me, but I was sure it was going around the building for another pass.

My instincts kicked in and I exited the car. I hid over in the construction site and watched as the chopper mowed the car down, blowing it to millions of pieces. The chopper lowered down lines and the S.W.A.T. team slid down to the bottom. My legs carried me to a toolbox, where I searched until I found a nail gun. "He's over there!"

I ran, ducking under bullets, straight into the building under construction. The men stalked in, their guns held high. I hid under the shadows waiting for the right moment. At the moment there were only five people. The guy taking point, pointed at the two on his right and jabbed his arm to the left. He then pointed to the ones on his left and jabbed right. He started to make his way forward, right up close to me. When I was sure the others were out of sight, I shot the nail gun at the man.

It caught him on his shoulder and he fell over, groaning. He turned over watching me walk to him. He dropped his rifle when I shot him but he pulled a pistol from his holster. I quickly shot his hand, nailing it into the ground. He yelled in pain, and I heard the scuffling of the other men. I took the assault rifle, it had a grenade launcher which would probably help later. "You think you're going to get out of this alive you freak? We will hunt you down. Chimera, Ladon, Cerberus. They're all going to find you."

Whatever this guy was saying was a warning. Possibly important, probably not. I thought about leaving him there. But instead I found a bandolier of frag grenades on him. I pulled one of the pins and stepped back. "Don't worry. I'll find them." I whispered.

My legs carried me out of the building, and the satisfying screams and explosion confirmed my plan. Most or all of them were incapacitated. I ran out in the open where the helicopter was still waiting. Before it fired a shot, I pulled the trigger to the grenade launcher. It lobbed up and all the way in the air and exploded at the base of the rotor blades. It sank like the titanic and crashed into the ground. I was frozen to my spot. For the first time I heard pedestrians running around, screaming. "C'mon 173. Run." I whispered.

I ran to the nearest car and hot-wired it. Wherever I was going, I wanted to get there fast and unseen.


	2. GO TO YOUR HOME

_ "Come back alive, Seaweed Brain. Then we'll see." We turned and saw a giant furry man with a bull head. It mooed/yelled with ferocity staring me down like I did something bad to him. "Hey, Beef Boy," I yelled. "Didn't I kill you already?"_

_ The monster threw his fist down on a car, crumpling it like it was made of play-doh. Some green snake like women with two snake tails instead of legs threw their javelins at me. Somehow I knocked them away, while dodging a giant dog-like creature. I hesitated but I stabbed it the next time it pounced. Several more monsters charged. A monster with a dog face and fishy flippers, giant muscular men with fangs, and more snake-women and giant dogs. The bull-man roared and the monsters halted. "One on one?" I yelled. "Just like old times?"_

_ I guess I've fought him before then. Or is this "Percy"? The bull-man took a giant twin blade war axe and began to swing it around. The axe was adorned with clay beads, which for some reason made me very angry. I dodged the bull-man's first swing and cut his axe in half. "Moo?" he grunted._

_ "HAAA!" I spun around and kicked his wet snout, making him unbalanced. He charged me like a bull but I cut his horns off, something told me this wasn't the first time this happened. He tried to grab me but I rolled away grabbing half of his axe. I was surrounded by monsters in a circle. The bull-man roared and charged me again. I ran to the edge of the bridge I was on, breaking through some snake women._

_The monsters cheered, probably thinking I was trying to run away. I braced the axe on the railing while the bull-man charged again. CRUNCH. He noticed the axe that was shoved in his breastplate. "Thanks for playing." I said._

_ I lifted him by his legs with amazing strength and tossed him over the bridge. Then I face the army of monsters. _

I woke up on the street next to a bunch of garbage. It smelled pretty bad but I made myself more comfy, not even opening my eyes. The smell kept me from sleeping but it still felt nice to lay down and do nothing. Especially after yesterday. Then someone tapped my forehead. I opened my eyes and saw a girl with kaleidoscope eyes and long straight blonde hair. "Hey! Is it warm in the trash?"

My mind thought of many things but this was the basic war in my head. _She's evil! Kill her!_ _**No you idiot! She's just a girl! By the way the trash is very warm.**__ Kill her and then tell her the trash is warm. _I shook the voices out of my head and whispered in a hoarse voice, "Yeah, but I don't think you want to sleep there."

She gave me a pouty face and stomped on the floor. I got up and studied her more carefully. She was about five feet and 8 inches tall. She was wearing a purple shirt showing off an SPQR logo and pajama shorts. It didn't seem too warm. I assessed my own clothing. I had bought a parka and basketball shoes the night before. Other than that I was still wearing the Demi Industries get- up. Even though it was a chilly morning I gave her my parka. She stared at me with wary eyes and took it, "Thanks."

She looked about 14 years old which was probably a sure sign that she wasn't just left on the streets. The parka was big on her but she seemed content anyways. I shivered and rubbed my arms. This girl had a home and for some reason I didn't want someone like me. Someone without a home. "So where are you from? What's your name? I'll take you home." I said.

The girl hesitated. "I'm Alexandra. But call me Alex. I don't wanna go back home." I stepped back, a little shocked. If I had a home I would definitely go back. She grabbed my hand. "You won't make me go home will you?"

Her kaleidoscope eyes got bigger and they bore into my heart. For a moment I was willing to let her go. I pulled the hood over her face. "Where's your home? Your parents must be worried." She pulled off the hood and glared at me. "I don't wanna go. It's the worst over there."

This girl was getting on my nerves. Why couldn't she just go home? "How about this. I'll let you take me home." I sighed in relief. "Only! If you take me to eat some lunch."

I rolled my eyes and looked around. If I was going to feed her I might as well give her something cheap. There was no need to waste my money that I stole. I spotted a Barnes & Nobles. I knew for a fact there was a Starbucks in there. I nodded to her and said, "Sure. I already know where to go."

In ten minutes I was buying dozens of cookies and breads. Alex had an appetite and she kept asking for more. I thought about stopping her but I figured she'd stop when necessary. I impatiently rapped my fingers on the table, waiting for her to stop. She smiled at me showing off her dazzling white teeth then said, "Thanks for the food. It was real kind of you."

I rolled my eyes and left to find a book. I picked one near the kid's section because I'm not exactly the best reader in the world. I returned to the table and surprise, surprise. Alex was still eating. I sat down and concentrated on trying to read the book but the words danced around the page. Alex had finally stopped eating and closed my book. "Are you a demigod? I feel a certain vibe from you."

My face must've been pretty funny because she laughed at my face. "It's alright" she said, "Most demigods don't know it. And it's pretty hard to find one that actually will get me some lunch. Even though it's from Starbucks."

Her eyes danced around changing colors rapidly, disorientating me. Behind me someone whispered, "173." Except their seventy sounded like sssseventy. I turned around, panic rising, to see a young woman with green eyes staring at me. She was a Starbucks employee and she was holding a stir spoon to my throat. At first I was confused but the spoon quickly turned into a bronze sword. Then the woman began to change. Her skin turned scaly green and her legs turned into two snake tails. I knocked the blade away and punched her in the face. "Alex run!"

More snake women appeared in Starbucks aprons. They advanced, surrounding us. A deafening roar stopped them in their tracks. A giant bull-man crashed through the walls and knocked over several shelves, stopping in front of us. He sniffed the air and stared at me in remembrance. I nervously picked up one of the tissue boxes he knocked from the shelves. "Tissue?"

Apparently that was the wrong answer. He charged right to me but out of instinct I reached in my pocket and pulled out a pen. I ripped off the cap feeling very foolish but the foolishness disappeared when it turned into a three foot long bronze sword. The bull-man ran right into me. I dropped my sword and grabbed his horns while I was being pushed back. I felt my basketball shoes melt while I skidded across the floor. He pushed me back to the brick wall but I stepped on the wall, the pressure of the bull-man allowing me to walk on it. I ran backwards and flipped over the bull-man then ran to the sword.

_Actually the correct terminology for the "bull-man" is the Minotaur. __**What the hell's a Minotaur? Can we kill it? **__Well chances are favoring that we will die. And the Minotaur is an ancient Greek beast of mythology. He was born from the queen of Crete as half human, half bull.__** Ew. That's nasty.**_ I shook the voices out of my head again wondering what was going on in my brain. I grabbed the sword and slashed wildly. I cut off the Minotaur's horns but I dropped the sword again. He raised his fists and smashed the ground where I was standing a moment ago. I picked the sword up again, "Hey Beef Brains!" I yelled.

He turned and I shoved the sword into his chest. It went halfway through, not enough. I spun and kicked it in deeper, the force of my kick propelling him backwards. He dissolved before he stopped flying, leaving the sword to impale itself on the wall in front of me. The snake women slithered forward again, cornering me and Alex. An invisible force pulled my gut and cups of coffee suddenly spat out their contents into the air. The coffee formed into several balls of coffee and flew to the head of each women. They froze on impact, forming a ball of coffee-ice around each head. It took out at least half of them but what really finished them off was Alex. Arcs of electricity shot from her fingertips, exploding the snake women. "Whoa. That was AWESOME!" Alex yelled as she picked up the Minotaur's horns, "Souvenirs!"

I retrieved the sword and capped it. It was awesome and all but I didn't remember having a pen in my pants. The alarms finally began to blare, cueing our exit.

We took a taxi to Caldecott Tunnel where Alex apparently lived. She was tired out from all the excitement, but I was more weirded out by my new found power. She probably didn't have all she could eat but she told me where she lived. At least I would be getting rid of one problem. "Caldecott Tunnel. Now pay up." Said the taxi driver.

I paid him and we walked out the cab standing in front of the tunnel. Alex took my hand and took me down to a different tunnel, a tunnel I would not have seen. She yawned and fell on the ground, forcing me to carry her. Through the tunnel, two guards in Roman armor stopped us. "Who are you?"

I nodded to Alexis and the guards looked relieved. One of them abandoned their post to lead me. He took me to the river that was flowing right at the exit of the tunnel. "Hey?" Alexis asked, "It's weird but I haven't asked you what your name is."

I stared at her half open eyes. She stared back with curiosity. I cleared my throat, "I don't have a name Alex. The name I've always had was 173." She yawned and rubbed her eyes. "That's weird. Everyone deserves a name."

Her voice rang inside my mind. _ Everyone deserves a name._ Was it true? Did I deserve a name? After all that's happened? My thoughts were shattered as the Roman guy screamed at me. I walked straight into the river but strangely I wasn't wet. Then I looked around me and saw that the water was being held back by an invisible force so that it looked like I was in a glass sphere. The guard stared in awe as I finished my way to the other side.

He ran along to the bridge and came to me, his jaw dropped. I noticed watch towers all around, blowing some kind of horn. A group of people ran from a building ahead. A middle aged blonde man took her from my arms. He had blue eyes and a scar near his lip like he had tried to eat a stapler. He nodded to me. A woman with choppy brown hair and Alex's kaleidoscope eyes. She hugged me and with a machine gun mouth said, "Thank you. I don't know what kind of trouble she would've gotten into. How can I-"

She stepped back and stared at me. Her eyes began to water. "Oh my gods. Jason." The man carrying Alex looked over. "He looks just like him."


	3. Ambrosia and Jelly Beans

**A/N: Thanks everyone for the follows/favorites/reviews. I might not be able to update anytime soon. I have tons of homework, essays, and tests this week. I might put one more chapter up this week but other than that no more chapters until maybe Thanksgiving weekend.**

I sat around in what the blonde man said was "The Praetor's office". All there was to entertain me were two dogs, silver and gold. They growled at me but other than that, did nothing. Everything was getting so weird. I needed an explanation. In the mean time I ate all the blue jelly beans in the jelly bean bowl. I'm not sure why I picked the blues, they tasted pretty bad. I began to throw the brown jelly beans at the silver dog. He growled louder but didn't do anything else. Before I knew it my mind was torn to a different image.

_I was sitting in the same room. Same spot except all the blue jelly beans I had eaten were restored. In front of me was a girl, maybe 15 or 16. She had light brown skin, obsidian colored eyes, black braided hair, and a cold look on her face. "You would find me a very helpful… friend."_

_ Her eyes indicated that I could choose what that meant. I wasn't too sure if that was a good thing or not. An image of the blonde girl intruded my mind and I opened my mouth to speak._

The door opened, an older version of the girl I saw strolled in, walking with the blonde man I met earlier, a scrawnier blonde man, and a familiar blonde woman with stormy gray eyes. The black haired woman had the same cold look in her eyes. She chucked a dagger on her table and gave me a dirty look before sitting down. "Is this because of the jelly beans?" I asked, "Because you can consider that being a favor. They tasted nasty anyway."

Her expression softened like she was reminiscing. She pushed the bowl away and covered her face like she was tired. She sighed and stared at me again with less anger. "Do you know who I am? Do you remember this place? Or our conversation?" She waved to everyone else. "Do you remember them?"

My mind strained, trying to remember. Some images poured into my head, "Your name is… Reyna. Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano. I think a goat told me?" I could tell she wanted to hurt me for saying her full name but I continued, "He…I? I was here because you wanted a praetor. And a friend. But I rejected you over…"

I pointed to the blonde woman. "Annabeth" I said, "Jason… and… Luke?" The scrawny man rolled his eyes, "Octavian." I shrugged. Either way I don't think I would've cared. Annabeth pulled out a necklace that was adorned with several beads. She handed it to me. "Do you remember any of these?"

I took the necklace in my hands and counted the beads. Fifteen in total. I stared at the one with a golden fleece. "Tyson" I murmured. I touched another one that was designed like a maze. "Daedalus… death. A lot of death." As I spoke I saw thousands of images fly through my head. My eye caught the skyscraper design and memories began to flow "a battle… We won but at a price… Annabeth?" The vision showed me kissing a blonde girl under water. Annabeth looked a lot like her. Then finally I touched a ring and a bead, the bead having the design of a trident and owl. My eyes began to sting as I looked up at Annabeth. Her eyes were watering too. "I'm sorry." I whispered.

Reyna shoved Octavian and he moved forward to me. "Give me your hand." I held it out and he jabbed it with a needle. I yelled in surprise but he just carefully wiped the blood drop with the needle. It hung on to the thin point just barely. He held his hand out and Jason provided him with a metal bowl filled with wood chippings. He let the drop of my blood fall into the wood chippings and Jason sparked the wood chippings to burn. Octavian sat with his face over the flames, inhaling the smoke. He finally retracted his head. "This isn't Perseus Jackson. He is merely some sort of a clone. Perseus's soul is quite distinct from this boy's."

I put my head into the smoke, "How can you tell just by inhaling smoke? Are you sure you aren't high from my blood?" Octavian pulled my head out, "It's a complicated art!" Reyna stopped our arguing. "Octavian. If this boy isn't Percy. Does he have a soul?" My skin felt oddly cold. Octavian took a whiff of the smoke again. "I don't know. To have your own soul is to be who you are. Not just a copy of someone else. If I am correct, and I probably am, this clone cannot own his own soul."

They all stared at me grimly. I shrugged like I didn't care but inside I was deeply anxious. Reyna broke the silence, "Jason. Get someone to give him a tour and see if anyone will add him to our legion. Octavian, go back to your temple and go kill some stuffed animals on whereabouts of Perseus Jackson."

Octavian huffed and left. "Why are we searching for Percy again?" Annabeth asked. Reyna rolled her eyes. "I thought you're supposed to be smart. Obviously it's some sign if a man that's been missing for 15 years suddenly shows up looking 15 years old."

Jason put his finger to his lip. He paused, then opened the door to the office. Alex tumbled down, and grinned as she got up, "Hey dad. I was just looking for the bathroom?" He facepalmed and shook his head. "Alex why don't you show…" He looked at me for a name. I shook my head. "Why don't you show him around camp? And see if there's any cohort willing to take him in."

Alex intertwined her arm in mine and marched outside. She showed me all the "amazing" and "breath-taking" features of the camp, and information on the gods but I can tell she was distracted by my interrogation. She took me to the Field of Mars where a couple dozen demigods or legacies were sparring. One girl caught my eye. She had long curly blonde hair and I could just barely see her sea green eyes flashing everywhere. "And that is Addie Jackson. Daughter of Percy and Annabeth Jackson."

I began to feel a bit dizzy. So technically did this mean I was the father? Alex noticed my distress and took me to the nearest bathroom. I washed my face in the cold water, feeling rejuvenated. I stared into the mirror and looked at myself. It was the first time I ever looked inside a mirror. I was Percy's reflection. My windswept raven hair. His. My sea green eyes. His. My face. His. I was nothing more than a reflection. I walked out feeling dizzier than I came in and I felt myself pass out as I walked in to Alex.

* * *

_I was standing in the corner of an operating room. Percy was strapped down to the table. The doctor took out a large needle and sucked in some of Percy's blood. He squeezed it into a glass test tube, corked it and set it next to several others. "You should be proud Perseus. You are about to give birth to weapons of destruction."_

_ Percy managed to laugh. "And how will you do that?" The doctor shook other test tubes in his face. "Artificial gene replicators. And these-" he held out a blue colored vial. "Are muscle enhancers. No matter what they will always be more durable, stronger, and faster than you ever were."_

_ Percy got a closer look into the vial. "But will they be Poseidon's favorite son?" he asked. The doctor smirked and put the vials away. "You're a funny man Perseus. But Demi Industries can't just let you walk out of this alive. You're staying here with us."_

* * *

I slowly opened my eyes feeling like I caught the flu. Except I've never had the flu. Sitting in front of me was a girl who looked a lot like Reyna except her eyes were more friendly and welcoming. She was feeding me some kind of pudding that tasted too bland. When she saw I was awake she spoke, "You drool when you sleep."

My answer was something like, "Uh doo?" I tried to get up but she pushed me down and tried to feed me more bland pudding. I pushed it away. "It tastes disgusting, stop." She looked surprised. "Really? It's supposed to taste like your favorite thing to eat."

I grumbled as I got up from the couch. I still felt top heavy but I thought I would be able to walk. "So who are you?" I asked. She put the bowl aside and held my arm. I used it for support and balanced myself. "I'm Luna. My mother is Reyna."

I tried to walk forward but ended up falling on my face. She laughed the most amazing laugh I've heard, only adding to my dizziness. She helped me up and offered me the bowl of pudding, "It's ambrosia. It'll heal you. Or at least clear up your fever."

When I didn't take the bowl she jammed a spoonful in my mouth. It tasted like cardboard but my head began to clear up. _She said that it's supposed to taste like my favorite food. Maybe I can't taste it because the only things I've ever eaten are pills and mush._ She helped me walk outside where the sun was beginning to set. "Where to?" she asked me.

I stared around and searched for Alex but she had simply disappeared. She was supposed to assign me a cohort but I just saw barracks everywhere. I thought about sleeping in a random bed but I remembered my dream. "Well if you could take me to your mother that would be nice."

**A/N: Thank you for reading everyone! Please review and follow/favorite. And have a nice day!**


	4. Welcome to the Camp Again

"I don't believe it." Reyna said.

That simple four word sentence literally shattered my hope. At first I felt despair but it suddenly turned into anger. "What do you mean you don't believe it? You said it yourself. I must be a sign."

The dogs next to her growled deeply but did not attack me. She looked over to them then at me. "My dogs Aurum and Argentum know you're not lying…" I translated the words in my head. "Gold and Silver? Which one's which?"

The moment the words flew out of my mouth I facepalmed. She had a playful look in her obsidian eyes and continued, "Octavian needs to find a prophecy first. And he always disapproves of quests from… outsiders. It may take some time."

I opened my mouth to protest but she held her hand. "No. It will take time. You have to understand that Percy has to wait."

I glared at her and she met me with an even nastier glare. I huffed and went to the door. "Hey" she called. I turned around, "Percy's lasted fifteen years. I think he can last a little longer." Her face softened, "I know you want to find. I know he means a lot to you. He means a lot to me too. I promise you I will get that quest."

I nodded and walked out the door. Luna who was waiting outside joined me. She said nothing and walked me through the camp. "Where are you taking me?" I asked.

She stopped in front of a forge. Even from a distance I could feel the heat radiating against my body. Inside I could hear a man singing to music. "Well I figured that if you're going to stay we should find you a weapon. And introduce you to our cohort."

She smiled at me, showing off her beautiful obsidian eyes. I thanked her and she dragged me inside. I started sweating as soon as I entered. A Latino man with a large beard was singing while hammering down on some metal. Oh yeah. And he was standing in the middle of a giant furnace. "LEO. LEO!" Luna yelled.

The man looked up and grinned. He jumped out the furnace, still flaming. He had a shirt that might have once been white with brown cargo pants. His curly brown hair wasn't on fire or his clothes which boggled my mind. "Hey! Wassup my homies?" he said.

He did a complicated handshake with Luna then turned to me. He tried to repeat it with me but my hand just flopped around. He gave me a look of disgust. "C'mon man. You gotta know the Leo handshake!"

I gave him a strange look and he pushed it aside. "Well whatever. At least you came to see the Super-sized McShizzle. Or Leo Valdez. I prefer McShizzle. What can I do for you lovebirds?"

Luna turned red while I nervously stepped away. Leo threw the red hot metal away obviously disgusted. He gave an expression like he was saying, "Well?" Luna coughed and said, "Well he needs a weapon. And I was hoping you could find one."

Leo grinned like a madman and disappeared out of sight. Various weapons flew at me and Luna. A katana, a gladius, a pirate sword and a bunch of other weapons. Leo came back into sight. "Hey man try this out."

He handed me a leaf shaped sword with a pure white blade. The hilt was a plain black metal material. I took it in one hand and tested its weight. Even held in one hand it was fairly light. It was three feet long of pure beauty. Leo saw that I looked pleased with it. "Pretty ironic you'd get that sword. Percy found it himself on a quest." I froze and stared at him, "Yeah that thing is pretty weird. No one liked this sword. Maybe it's because of the material it's made of."

Leo looked around. "I have a sheath I made somewhere." He dove out of sight again then back with a plain black sheath. He gave it to me and continued, "Anyhow, I still don't know what it's made of. It's been seventeen years. I guess the gods made it."

He smiled at me with a mischievous grin and left to go inside the furnace with a new chunk of metal. Luna touched my shoulder and looked at me with a questioning face. I shook my head and left before I had to hear more music by Leo Valdez. Luna caught up to me, "Hey what's up?"

I put my sword in the sheath and strapped it around my back. Luna punched me in the shoulder. She hit more like an MMA fighter than a fourteen year old girl. "Ow! What?"

She glared at me and began to drag me away again. We walked around to the Pricipia where hundreds of kids were eating dinner. She walked me over to the table on the far end. "Welcome to Fifth Cohort. The cohort famous for its losers then occasionally for their leaders. The centurions have accepted you while you slept so I guess you're stuck with me."

She handed me a plate which I stored in my pocket and we sat on the far end alone with only each other for company. It was like the wind was blowing us food; I grabbed pizza, a cheeseburger, and some steak. I looked at my cup wondering how I'd get a drink. "You have to think of what to drink." Luna told me.

Immediately the cup filled with a blue coke looking liquid. I took a sip and smiled. It tasted amazing, it might even be the taste for my ambrosia. As we ate in silence I noticed one thing. Every time someone would pass us, they would stare at Luna then walk right by. She seemed to ignore this even though she was aware of it. I finally broke and asked her, "Why is everyone looking at you funny?"

She looked up at me from her dinner. "Well they think I'm weird."

She didn't look weird. She looked like a normal girl. Of course I haven't ever met a normal girl in my life… I was about ask why but she answered before I could open my mouth. "Because of my mom. She's a fighter. The praetor of Rome. I'm just her daughter that can't to what she can."

We didn't talk after that. I could tell she was a bit ticked off and quickly inhaled my food and went off on my own. I ended up next to the Little Tiber, sitting on the bank while the water trickled through my toes. The sun was setting leaving a yellowish red glow in the sky. _First time you've seen the sunset. How do you feel? _I didn't feel special. But I did feel like I was finally alive. "Beautiful. Right?"

Alex was behind me, her hair pulled back in a ponytail but her attire the same as it was in the morning. She tore of her sandals and s next to me, putting her feet in the water along with mine. She was oddly close to me. I stared at my feet expecting her to leave after the silence but she stayed. "So how are you liking Camp Jupiter?"

I shrugged and pulled the plate out of my pocket. "Well can you explain what this is? I don't really read Latin" As I gave it to her, a necklace came out of my pocket. It was the one with the beads. I had forgotten to return it. "Perfect" Alex muttered.

She took the necklace and hooked the plate onto it and hung it around my neck. "There. Now you're a qualified Demigod in the Roman legion. Or at least you're a probatio."

I thanked her quietly and messed around with my-Percy's necklace. I broke the silence, "Why did you run away?" I asked.

She gave me a steely look twiddled her thumbs. "I was feeling… unwanted. My parents love my little brother. He's 3 years old and he's done nothing wrong but it's just frustrating when your parents don't listen."

I wish I could tell her it'd be alright. But sadly I never experienced the things a regular or at least a demigod teen has. Her hand crept towards my hand until we were both holding onto each other. She smiled and put her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes. My eyes began to creep down too until I finally blacked out.


	5. Find my Own Way

**A/N: Due to the lack on events on the last chapter, I decided to add another chapter. It's sorta boring. BUT IT'S IMPORTANT SO READ IT**

**Okay!**_** Day 14 and you've already beaten most of the campers in sparring. I think that should be a record.**__ Nah. I bet a million drachmas that Jackson girl can beat us. _Everyday my mind would wander off like this. Most of what they were saying was true. I had beaten a lot of people without breaking a sweat but I was almost sure that I would lose if Addie Jackson challenged me. So of course she did. "Hey Champ! How about we see who's best? Me against you!" she said.

I held my sword more tightly. I nodded curtly and she immediately began. She spun and sent her sword to my chest. I ducked under and stabbed at her gut but was parried. We circled around, none of us daring to attack. You know, except for her. She sliced down and I blocked, protecting my head, then went for her stomach. She disarmed me and my sword flew out of my hands, sinking itself on the Field of Mars. She smiled and whispered, "Nice try newbie."

She held her sword up but I pulled out Riptide, uncapped it, and then knocked her blade away. She looked in awe and advanced on me. She feinted left and swung at my right but I parried and riposted. She parried and went low, knocking me off the ground. I rolled away as she swung upon me, then stood up, slightly dazed. "Hey let's talk." I said.

Apparently "talk" wasn't in her vocabulary. She stabbed forward while I parried and she retracted immediately then stabbed again and again. It was a routine but the effort to try another move would have been useless. I was completely on the defensive. She retracted and went in for another stab which I was about to block but instead she disarmed me again. I yelped and jumped kicked her in the hand.

Both our swords flew away. Of course she wouldn't let it go. She went to grapple me and succeeded in judo flipping me over. She put her knee on my chest and went in close, a knife in her hand. My eyes went crazy and the scene melted.

_Annabeth was rushing to me and I was doing the same. We threw our arms on each other and kissed. Her lips were soft and warm, making my body shudder. I pulled away and started to say, "Gods, I never thought—"_

_ She judo flipped me over and put her knee on my chest. Part of me was tense because that was somewhat what happened to me right then. The other part of me was hoping Addie Jackson wouldn't kiss me. We were technically blood related. Annabeth looked annoyed and angry and managed to say, "If you ever leave me again I swear to all the gods—"_

My eyes reformed the whole Field of Mars again and I was standing over Addie, holding her bronze sword and my white sword over her neck. The voice in my head spoke again. _I fought her for you while you were gone._ I looked down at Addie whose face was bright red. I sheathed my sword and helped her up. She gave me a dirty look, took her sword, and left.

Alex and an Asian boy ran up to me. "Dude that was so AWESOME!" "Definitely cool."

The guy introduced himself as Sammy. "Son of Hazel and Frank Zhang." He said proudly. I felt like those names meant something to me but I wasn't sure why. "So what's the deal with Addie?" I asked.

Alex looked at me funny. "Maybe it's because you look like her dad she never met. Or maybe it's because you spat in her eyes as a distraction. So far you haven't made a very good first impression."

* * *

The next day Reyna made me go in for another private meeting with her. And again she had no news to give. "Octavian still hasn't found the right prophecy, he's beginning to think there isn't even a prophecy."

I banged my fist on her desk. "You promised me you would get me a quest. I don't see a quest. All I see is a lying praetor standing in front of me" she opened her mouth to speak but I cut her off, "If you won't give me a prophecy I'll make my own."

Before I could walk out the door she pulled me and sat me down a chair. Forcefully. She glared at me and crouched to get to my level. "You are still a probatio. If you leave this camp without my permission, I will make sure any Roman you come in contact with will kill you."

I stared into her cold black eyes with an equal amount of coldness. "I don't care. It wouldn't be the first time I've been treated as someone who can't make their own decisions."

Luna tumbled into the room looking flustered but determined. Reyna looked shocked like she never seen her daughter in a predicament like this. She stood up with her head held high. "Mom I think he should be able to go" Reyna opened her mouth to speak but Luna stopped her, "I know I can't give my input on your decision but I want him to go. And I'm going with him no matter what. And you know you can't waver my decision."

Reyna glared at me like it was all my fault Luna bursted in. She dug around her desk and pulled out a letter and signed it. She slammed it into my chest and whispered in my ear. "These are forms to give to other former members of the legion. They will help you when they see them. And if my daughter comes home with even a tiny bruise… I'll personally kill you."

She stepped back and waited for us to leave. Luna went out first and I went to follow her. I gave one last glance before I left the praetor office and I could swear Reyna was crying.

Outside was a whole other deal. Luna was practically dancing. "Why are you so happy?" I asked.

She took my hand and skipped away, forcing me to half run and half gallop along. We plopped down on the steps of the fifth cohort barracks. Her eyes shined with excitement and she said, "I haven't been outside in the real world before. This quest is giving me the chance I need."

"Quest?" a voice rang out. Alex walked to us and leaned on a hip. Luna glared at her and said, "What do you want Grace? More makeup?"

Alex gave sour look to her and continued, "A quest requires three members. I'd be happy to be the third." The door behind us opened revealing Sammy. "Hey I wanna go too! I haven't been outside this damned camp in forever."

I opened my mouth to complain. I never wanted anyone to come along. It was a solo quest but here everyone was trying to get out of camp just to stretch their legs. Behind Sammy a girl stepped out and studied us all. It was Addie. I wondered if she forgave me for the spitting incident. "Hey loser" apparently not, "If you're going on a quest, I'm going."

Her eyes stung me like she was asking me to try and stop her. I said nothing and she nodded like I had finally made sense. "We'll leave tonight. Meet me at the bridge. I'll provide us with a transport."

I stared as she walked away, her blonde hair tossing up and down as she walked. Alex grabbed my hand, "C'mon let's pass sometime in the stables. You might like what I have to show you."

Luna looked kind of hurt that I left her but I figured she'd be okay. Alex stopped us at the stables. We entered and I took a whiff of the horses. They smelt nice or at least as nice as a horse can. Alex took a pure white horse out and then I realized it had wings. "Now pick your own." She said.

I looked over at my choices. They all seemed to say **Choose me!** But I stopped at a black horse. _Pegasus. Or Pegasi in plural. _The next thing that happened was crazy. The horse spoke in my mind. **Who's this weirdo? **A pegasus near me whinnied but I could hear him talking in my head, **Show more respect Eirene. **

I fumbled on the lock to the gate and I heard the black one speak again.** See! This puny demigod can barely unlock the stupid gate! **I took the pegasus out and put a saddle on her back. I led her out of the stables and she began to talk again. **So what are you? A legacy? Oh wait. YOU CAN'T HEAR ME CAN YOU?** I turned around angrily, "Yes I can."

The pegasus whinnied in surprise. **Oh I'm sorry Lord! Please forgive me. I didn't know you were a child of Poseidon. The only child is gone and his child is the only one who can commune with us. Please don't turn me into horse soup.** I climbed onto her back and into the saddle. 'Don't worry Eirene. I won't eat you."

Alex laughed as I felt my face grow red. "Okay now what you want to do—" but I was already starting up. Eirene galloped a tiny bit and began to flap her wings. We began to soar through the air and Alex joined us. "Are you enjoying yourself?" Alex asked.

"Yeah!" I screamed. Alex leveled herself and yelled over, "Okay Nemo! Let's have a race."

I scoffed and held on to Eirene. We zoomed towards the ground, Alex following our tail. We were in air for a while. I lost sense of all time, enjoying the nice spring breeze and the smell of true freedom. I finally came down feeling happy all the way down to my basketball shoes. Alex smirked as we returned the pegasi. "You have a little something."

She wiped something of my face and smiled again. She drew close to me. Uncomfortably close. She closed her eyes and leaned in but I pinched her lips. "Hey I think I should go pack now. You know. The quest's in a couple hours."

She looked disappointed but nodded. "See you at the bridge Nemo."

**A/N: Next chapter will hopefully be up by Thursday. Review, favorite, follow!**


	6. Cerberus

I didn't need to pack much. I only had three extra pairs of clothes. All of which were cargo shorts and purple SPQR shirts. I put them all with in my backpack along with a canteen of nectar, some ambrosia squares, and the letters Reyna gave me. I decided to keep my sword slung on my back. The mortals might not see through the mist. Other than that I had Riptide in my pocket and Percy's necklace on my neck. I walked out of the barracks and to the bridge where Sammy, Alex, and Luna were waiting. Sammy greeted me first, "What's up man! Why'd it take you so long?"

The girls hit him for being so loud. He rubbed his neck and brofisted me. They had brought items similar to mine. Alex had a long dagger on her belt, Sammy had an oddly suspicious silver watch and a gladius, and Luna wasn't holding a weapon besides a Swiss Army Knife that she was showing off, half concealed in her pocket. A van approached us, parking on the bridge. We ran inside, Sammy in shotgun, Luna, Alex, and me in the back. "Well isn't this cozy." I muttered.

Luna smacked me on the head. I sat down, throwing my sword and my backpack on the ground near me. Luna and Alex slept within the first few minutes. I tried to stay alert. "So where exactly are we going oh wise father?" Addie asked.

I frowned and spoke before I drifted off into a dream, "Washington… Seattle… That's what the T-shirt said…"

* * *

_The tide pushed in and pulled away. The sand dissolving at my feet. I was wondering why I was there. Then I saw Him. Poseidon. He had raven hair, green eyes, and tanned skin. I always expected Greek Gods to where a chiton but he was wearing Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian flower shirt. He had smile wrinkles on his face but he wasn't smiling. He looked at me with contempt. "Lord Poseidon." I said as I kneeled before him._

_ I stood back up to his glare. It was hard to take him seriously because of his garb. "Father" I said, "Did I do anything wrong?"_

_ Poseidon's nostrils flared and his eyes seemed to bore into my soul. "Father? FATHER? You dare call me your father?"_

_ I nervously shifted in the dream feeling like I wouldn't come out of this alive. "You will never be my son. You will never be Perseus Jackson." _

_ I felt a flare of anger erupt inside me. I knew all of this but here was this old man telling me what I wasn't. "I know that. Perseus Jackson is who I was meant to be but never will. I'm not going to stand here listening to your rant about who I'm not."_

_ The instant in came out of my mouth I regretted it. "WHO ARE YOU? You are a being that should not exist! You are an abomination!" He turned and paced around then faced me again, "I cannot take away a blessing. Not one that I have already bestowed. But I can curse you. So long as you live under Perseus Jackson's name you will never be welcome in my kingdom. All of my subjects will disgrace you everywhere you meet. Your power over the sea will become unpredictable, only causing misery and death. NOW BEGONE."_

* * *

I woke up with start. The van we were in skidded on its wheels and flipped over. My head hit the glass window, causing it to fracture. I felt the blood trickle out from my forehead. Luna was unconscious, her head bleeding far more severely than I was. I unbuckled my seatbelt and crashed headfirst into all the luggage. Not the most comfy landing. Addie called back, "Is everyone okay?"

Alex groaned and unbuckled her seatbelt. I caught her to avoid massive headaches. "What happened?" I asked.

Addie pushed her seatbelt button. It didn't come undone. She cursed is ancient Greek and pulled a dagger out and cut herself loose. "Some monsters started trailing us a couple hours after we left Camp Jupiter. I have no idea where we are. I think Nevada."

I didn't know my geography well but I was pretty sure Nevada was not in Washington. "Wait… I thought we were going to Washington. Why are we here?"

Addie opened the door and dragged Sammy out, "I told you Dingle Nuts. Monsters chased us off course. But if we can steal another vehicle we can just—"

The ground vibrated, stopping Addie in the middle of her sentence. The ground shook again. I looked out the back window and saw an enormous figure stalking his way towards us. _Oh crap that things huge.__** WE CAN TAKE HIM! **__Shut up._ I unbuckled Luna and tried to open the back doors. They were stuck and that thing was getting closer. I smashed the door with my foot, demolishing it. The door flew off and skidded across the desert floor. "C'mon Alex. I can't carry both of you out of here."

Alex crawled out while I dragged Luna's limp body. When I could stand up I hung Luna on my shoulders. Alex was dazed and tried to follow me. Addie had finally revived Sammy with ambrosia but he was still looked like he had a concussion. Behind the giant monster a squad of smaller monsters appeared. Addie whispered, "Di immortals. Scythian Dracanae."

They were getting closer to the van where all our weapons were. I broke off running. If we lost our weapons we'd be helpless. A spear was thrown at me as I slid under cover in the van. I took my sword and slung it on my back. And then I facepalmed. Riptide was in my pocket. Hopefully I didn't risk my life for something useless. I threw out the equipment as fast I could and ran out myself. As soon as I stepped out I was face to face with a giant hairy man with a dog head. Kind of like the Minotaur except this one had one of those stretchy girdles on. "Hello Brother." He growled.

I pulled out my sword and pointed it to him and stepped back. He grinned or at least he showed off his teeth then said, "Ah. You don't remember me. I am Cerberus. Maybe this will help."

He shrunk in size and turned into me. Same height, same hair, same eyes, but he was not me. He smiled and waved his arms at his Dracanae. "Welcome to the good life brother. Demi Industries have been good to me. And they will be good to you as well. Come home with me brother and Demi Industries will shower you with power."

I took one look into his eyes and I knew my answer. I lowered my sword and sheathed it. I stuck my hands in my pocket and walked closer to him. "Don't!" Addie screamed.

He scoffed and shook my hand. "See look at that. She doesn't even know your name. We will give you a name."

Cerberus smiled and I returned it. I tore out Riptide and sliced his head off. Blood poured out of his body, collecting on the ground in front of me. The Dracanae stared, awestruck and let me go back. "Look out" Alex screamed.

Cerberus' headless body tackled me to the ground. His body growing a new head before my eyes. Thick hot blood dripped on my face as it reformed. His head was the same except he had blood red eyes instead of green. "Bad choice 173." He muttered.

He yelled an order and the Dracanae charged my friends. Cerberus' got bigger and hairier, his head turning into a wolf's head. I was completely pinned down. Cerberus widened his mouth and closed it around my head. With amazing strength that even surprised me, I ripped my arms out from underneath him and held his jaws, refusing to get eaten. We slowly got up, grappling each other for dominance. He roared and threw me across the desert floor.

Out of the corner of my eyes I could see Addie and Sammy desperately trying to protect Luna and Alex but they were hopelessly outnumbered. Now that I had a good look at Cerberus, he seemed bigger than he was before I sliced his head off. He pressed his body to the ground, preparing to pounce. I pulled out my sword but he had already started running. He rammed into me, knocking me to the floor again.

The next time he charged, I sidestepped him and stabbed him in the chest. He stopped and shuddered but he gripped my arm making it bleed. I pulled and uncapped Riptide and slid it through his chest. He coughed blood on my face and pushed me aside. I flew back to an unfortunate Dracanae. Cerberus grew bigger so that he was at least fifteen feet tall. He pinched my swords out and took a swipe at me. I dodged it and rolled under his legs, reappearing behind him. I picked up my sword and tapped his butt. "Hey doggy!" I yelled.

He turned around and prepared to swipe me but I quickly stabbed Riptide into his knee. He howled and fell over. Cerberus attempted to get back up but I jumped on him and pounded him to the ground. I pulled Riptide out and smacked him around with the flat side of the blade. He transformed into a guy who looked like me again. "Please. Brother don't kill me!"

He looked around with fear and I felt remorse. Like me he hadn't asked to become a pawn. I got off him and walked away saying, "Because I am you I understand your pain, but the next time you get in my way…"

I didn't get to finish because an arrow whizzed over my shoulder and hit Cerberus in the head. I spun around quickly and realized that he had transformed and would have killed me. Luna was beginning to stand up, lifting a crossbow and firing on the Dracanae. I joined the struggle and within minutes the monsters were all just dust. I panted as I withdrew Riptide. "Thanks."

Luna nodded and folded her crossbow making it turn into her Swiss army knife. I looked at it dumbfounded but she didn't say anything. Alex was up too, retrieving our bags. Addie collapsed on the floor and sighed, "Now how are we going to get to Seattle? I don't even know where we are."

I scanned the area and before my eyes I spotted a casino. I didn't know how I didn't see it before. I tapped Addie and pointed to it. "Hey there's a casino over there. Maybe we could go in and ask for directions or something."

**A/N: Thanks for reading! I meant to update a lot sooner but it was Thanksgiving! FOOD! Anyway I think one more chapter will be up before this week ends so keep your eyes open. Follow, Favorite, Review, and have a nice day!**


	7. The Lotus Hotel and Casino

It was a group decision. Wander around trying to figure out how to get to Seattle or ask for directions. Once we stepped in the casino, a bellhop in the same garb as Poseidon ran into us. "What's up guys? The Lotus Hotel and Casino has been expecting you! Here are your Platinum Cash Cards and your rooms are listed on this receipt!"

He handed us five cards and I stared at it confused. Addie dropped her bag. "Oh. My. Gods. They have Architect Haven! I wanted to play that so bad!" she ran to it yelling back, "See ya later!"

The rest of my friends left their bags and weapons in a similar fashion and left, Sammy went to play Battlefield 7, Luna went to the ice skating rink, and Alex went to go bungee jumping. I looked around my surroundings. There was a black Maserati on display which made me want to take it and drive away. The bellhop smiled at me when I didn't leave like them. "C'mon buddy! It's time to play! Your bags will be taken care of and we'll alert you when our new game floor is finished."

I grabbed all our bags. "No thanks" I said, "I'll do it myself but thanks anyway."

It took the elevator about fifteen seconds to get to my floor. Our room was a spacious apartment, with four beds, three bathrooms and a giant kitchen. I laid our stuff on the ground and noticed there weren't windows. That was weird. I went back down where my friends were having fun, doing their own thing.

I went into the food court and bought myself pizza. Along with the pizza they sent blue soda and a flower on my tray. A note was put next to it. It read _Enjoy your stay at the Lotus Hotel and Casino! Have a complementary flower!_

I took a whiff of the flower. It smelled wonderful but it was also intoxicating. _Hey stupid! This is a lotus flower. It will keep you in this casino for eternity. So wake up and get out!__** Flower equals drug. Drug equals bad. Get out. **_ I realized I had been taking whiffs out of it for a couple minutes. I set it down and wandered to Sammy. He was busy killing the Americans. He cursed in Chinese and madly moved his fingers around. "Hey Sammy there's something wrong with this place."

Sammy cursed in Chinese and slapped the screen. "You're telling me! I can't beat this stupid guy! Oh! I respawned!"

He returned to his game, ignoring me. I tried hitting him but his thick body frame probably made my hits seem like a mosquito's. I walked off trying to find anyone else. Every single person I tried gave me the same results. Ignored. _Maybe we should tie them all up together and drag them out.__** Or we could leave them. **_"Okay. Tie them up. I can do that." I said.

_Ha! He likes my ideas more. __**Nu-uh! **__B. the Lotus Hotel and Casino will make time in the outside world faster so hurry. _My brain strained as they fought back in my mind. I gathered all of our stuff from our room. I went around hooking our bags on my friends' arms. They didn't even blink an eye. Next I had to find some sort of material to tie them up with. I ended up tying the bed sheets in our room together. It took me at least an hour to tie them all together and then tie my friends. "Well here goes nothing." I muttered.

I gave a mighty yank and my friends all tumbled from their game. They struggled to get up but I yanked again. This time they got tangled into each other and couldn't stand without fumbling against each other. I pulled and pulled, playing a game of tug of war. When I reached the door the bellhop rushed towards me, "Are you leaving so soon? We've got our new floor open and we've got our new Platinum cards for our special users."

His eyes seemed to plead for us to say. My arm extended trying to reach out for it but it stopped half way. I grabbed the bed sheets and tugged and pushed through the door. The doors hit my friends as they went through but at least they were out. My eyes burned in the bright light. "What the hell?" I muttered.

Alex groaned and stood up, helping the others up. Well except for Luna. "Oh Styx. Addie. You might want to see this."

I peered over her shoulder and my heart nearly stopped. It was May 18th. We started the quest on the 4th. Addie frowned. "We need to get to Washington. Now."

* * *

We ended up buying Greyhound tickets to Seattle. Addie was in a worse mood than I was. She was glad I woke her and the others from their trance but she was moody because her chance to find Percy was thinning. Sammy sat by himself, still complaining about his game, Alex and Addie sat together, partially because Alex was the only one Addie could stand at the moment. I sat next to Luna who stayed quiet while Alex whipped her head back for a conversation every five minutes.

_We beat Cerberus but there is still Chimera and Ladon. __**Those are pretty powerful monsters. If you're going to beat them you have to be prepared.**_ But Cerberus was just a bump in the road.** (A/N: Bold italics and italics are the mental voices. Regular text is just 173 thinking to himself.)** _Bump in the road? You nearly got killed. _But I didn't. _**You showed him mercy. Cerberus is an abomination. He kills for glory and blood. You should have killed him while you could.**_

_I'd hate to agree with him but he is correct. Cerberus was mixed with monster blood to try and create a perfect soldier. Strong, vicious, and bloodthirsty. And he needed to be put down. _But aren't I basically killing my own self? _**Honestly at this point you have a lot more to think about than killing monster half-bloods.**__ Yes. Concentrate on who you are._ "Wake up doofus." Luna said.

I looked around. It didn't look like Seattle. As if she read my mind Luna answered me, "It's not Seattle. We just need to switch busses. But first we're going to eat."

We walked down the aisle together and entered the outside again. It was warm, warm enough for me to take off my jacket. I shoved it in my backpack and looked around. "So… Where are we?"

Sammy shrugged, Addie ignored me as usual, Alex was busy listening to music, and Luna was fumbling with a map. Sammy slowed down to my pace and bean to converse with me. "Thanks for the whole Lotus thing. We would have never gotten out of there without you. How did you know to get us out?"

_It was because of me.__** No it was me.**_ I ignored both of them, "Well I just had a feeling. It seemed a bit fishy. How the monsters drove us to that spot. Plus Cerberus seemed too easy. All of it just didn't add up."

Of course I didn't really think there was any real connection but I didn't really want to confide the secret of my mental neighbors with anyone just yet. Sammy scratched his head. "Hmmm… maybe that company doesn't want you anywhere near them. Funny. I thought that werewolf would be tougher."

Personally I thought so too. The SWAT team captain had told me they would find me and that they would kill me. But Cerberus was a piece of cake. _Maybe they meant for him to be a piece of cake so that you would let the victory go to your head. __**Yeah whatever happens don't be a cocky idiot. That's how I went out. **_"Wait what?" I asked out loud.

Luna looked up from her map, Alex took an ear bud out, Sammy gave me a questioning look, and Addie just ignored me. Again. Luna folded her map and announced where we were eating. "After much concentration I have found that the best establishment this town has to offer is a McDonalds. So how about we go buy ourselves some cancer in the form of burgers?"

Half an hour later we were happily inhaling several burgers. Luna had said it was cancer in the form of burgers but it tasted pretty good. Another first. Eating burgers. _Maybe you should make a bucket list. __**Can we have ice cream?**_ I repeated what they said out loud. "Maybe I should make a bucket list. Can I have ice cream?"

Everyone stared at me funny as I clapped my hand over my mouth. _Try not to repeat what we say. It could cost you. __**What are you talking about? We probably will get ice cream! **_Sammy came to my rescue. "Yeah! I'm down with that. Let's get some McFluffies!"

"McFlurries." Alex said.

Sammy got up and so did I. We ordered and he reached to pay but he came out of his pockets empty handed. I searched myself and held out the Platinum Lotus card. "You wouldn't happen to take Casino cards would you?" I asked.

The cashier shrugged. "They're basically like debit cards. If you have enough on it I guess you could spend it."

I swiped it on the machine and the screen next to it produced an infinity sign. The cashier's eyes got huge. She quickly disappeared and reappeared with two McFlurries, all of it topped with an enormous amount of Oreos. We thanked her and took our ice cream and admired the plastic card.

When we got back Alex was huddled over something while Addie tried her best to ignore me. She popped out of her huddle and handed me a paper that was decorated by pencil that only had two things written on it. My Bucket List and 1. Eat at McDonalds. "It's so you can keep track of what you want to do before you die. And knowing the average life span of a demigod, you might want it."

I quietly thanked her both and folded it in my pocket. Addie finally talked, "If we're finished here let's go back on a Greyhound. I want this quest over with."

**A/N: Thank you for reading and Follow, Favorite, and Review! Have a nice day!**


	8. Homecoming

**A/N: So unfortunately these are one of those days when the chapter is just pure communication. The next chapter is kind of the same but it has a lot of revelations and I like it a lot. Keep on your toes my readers! Chapter 9 could be here anytime!**

We were travelling overnight but I couldn't sleep. Too much was on my mind. Poseidon's curse. The quest for Percy. Cerberus. All of it was too much for one person to handle. Maybe that was why I had two people in my brain talking to me. Beside me Addie shifted uncomfortably. The bus had been pretty full when we arrived and somehow we were stuck together. I knew she was awake but I didn't bother her, afraid she would beat me up but I was feeling pretty lonely at the moment.

_**Lonely? How are you lonely? You've got us!**__ Hey shut up. He needs to talk to real people. __**Aren't we real though?**__ Just shut up you weirdo._ I tapped Addie in the shoulder. She didn't react, completely ignoring me. I spoke to her even though I knew she wouldn't answer. "I've noticed you've been trying to ignore me after Cerberus. We're stuck in this quest together whether you like it or not. You volunteered yourself. I don't know if it's anything I did but I'm sorry if it is."

She didn't respond. I leaned back and tried to let myself sleep again with no luck. Then Addie finally spoke. "It's just frustrating. I've seen more clones of my dad than him. My mom's shown me pictures but every time I think of him I see you. You're the only picture I have of him. It makes me so angry that he got himself captured. Right when his wife was pregnant. While his unborn daughter was waiting to see her father but inevitably wouldn't."

I raised my eyebrows even though she couldn't see them rise. It was funny because somehow I felt the same with Percy. Why did he get himself captured right before his daughter's birth? He must've been a real idiot to do something like that. "So… you don't hate me?" I asked nervously.

"You? No. I just get angry whenever I see you. I just wish I could actually see him. He owes me and mom so much. He owes you so much. He owes every single freak created because of his stupid DNA."

I sort of felt offended. I wasn't too sure if I was one of those freaks but I was hoping she meant the type of Cerberus clones. She sniffed and I realized she had been crying the whole time. I hugged her and she hugged back without objection. She blew her nose on my shoulder, a bit gross but there's the Jackson family for you. She wiped it off and smeared it on Sammy's head, who was in the seat in front of ours. I whispered as she quietly cried, "Don't worry. You're father cares a lot for you. And I promise to the River Styx that I'll bring him back no matter what."

I woke up the next morning with still hugging Addie. No one else on the bus was awake. Addie looked less aggressive in her sleep. Part of the reason was because she was drooling on my shoulder, meaning I was down to two shirt that weren't covered in body fluids. I slipped out of her arms and took the shirt off and reached in my bag for another one. I put on the SPQR shirt and used the old one to wipe Addie's face. She woke up at my touch and stared into my eyes.

She touched her wet face and grabbed the shirt, wiping her face quickly. I smiled while she finished wiping. She glared at me, handed back my shirt and sat so that she couldn't see me. She might have been ignoring me again but I knew what I wanted to know. Sammy yawned and turned around. His face was a little puffy and his eyes were almost shut. "Ugh… why does my head feel so sticky?" he asked as he scratched his head.

Addie went red while I simply smiled. Slowly, every passenger woke up, Alex waking up last. Her hair had went crazy overnight. It was sticking in every direction possible. She seemed to know this even before she looked at a mirror because she instantly patted her hair down into her regular doo. The driver's voice went off in the intercom _–Due to traffic problems we will be arriving in Seattle at 11:30 am. So cozy in with your partner and wait just a bit longer.-_

I rubbed my eyes and stared out the window. Alex was too tired to start her usual conversations with me, Sammy was still trying to wipe the "sticky" off his hair, and Luna was busy fiddling with her Swiss Army Knife. After two hours of seeing cars filled with the oddest passengers we had arrived. Sammy jumped to his feet as the bus stopped. "Finally!"

We ran out the bus and into the warm Washington air. I could see the building where I killed all the SWAT members. All I had to do was retrace my steps from there. But Alex turned us around to a fast food restaurant. "FOOD. NOW." She moaned.

We went into a Burger King where Luna simply stated that it was a creepier version of McDonalds, which I found out as soon as I ran into a life sized statue of a bobble head king. I let out a tiny shriek as the others laughed at me. We bought food with the Lotus card again and feasted on cancer food. After we finished Addie talked to me again, "So do you know where to go?"

I nodded and walked out the door signaling them to follow me. They all walked out, Sammy still slurping on his soda. I pointed the building under construction. "That building was where I fought some SWAT team guys. I think if we start from there I can find Demi Industries."

Sammy lazily threw his soda on the street. Addie hissed. "What would Grover say?"

He quickly picked it up and tossed it in the trash and said, "Why don't we just ask someone where it is?" He stopped a pedestrian, "Hello sir. I'm kind of lost. Could you tell me where Demi Industries is?"

The man gave him a weird look. "There is no Demi Industries here. I've never heard of that company in my life." He walked away muttering, "Tourists."

Sammy looked offended, shrugged and followed me to the construction site. I saw the marks on the street and recognized it as the spot the helicopter crashed. I crossed the street and practically sprinted down the street until I was in the parking lot of a giant building that had a logo on the top of the building. At first it said "Wells Fargo" but then the words twisted and shifted into a completely new set of words that read, "Demi Industries".

Everyone stared at the logo with a similar concentrated face like mine. Addie simply stared at the front door and said, "Let's go in."

_**DON'T DO IT! The staff inside the lobby are trained killers. They would shoot you to shreds before you could get to the front desk. **_How did you escape then?_** Well it involved a gun which you don't have. **_Well this time we have five demigods and legacies armed with swords. Would that tip the scales? _**I don't know. At the time I had only one person to worry about. You. But now there's four others. If you or I had to do it again someone could get hurt. **__But he does have the element of surprise. Go in all gungho and I'm sure you'll make it. _

Alex snapped her fingers under my nose and I returned to the real world. They all seemed to be waiting for my decision. The voices in my mind were quiet meaning they had said all they wanted to. "Well I think we should attack it head on. We have the element of surprise. Let's just sprint right through them." I said.

We walked to the front door where I rested my hand on it. I held out three fingers. I put down one. _I told you he liked my ideas better. _I put down the next. _**Whatever but when you're lying in a pool of your own blood don't expect me not to say I told you so. **_My hand tuned into a fist and we ran in.

**A/N: Thanks for reading and I'd like to thank all you for once again reading my completely random story. Please favorite, follow, and review and as always have a nice day!**


	9. I was Born this Way

We ran in, swords drawn but we met no resistance. People in the lobby just looked at us funny. I slowed down into a walk and sheathed my sword. The others did the same and we stopped at the front desk. A perky brunette lady was sitting behind the desk and cheerfully announced, "Mr. Dyson will see you now! Here's a key card" she handed me the card, "and just swipe it on the laser in the elevator and descend to level 19. And remember! You cannot go to the levels in between unless you wish to die a painful death."

She smiled and waved at me and pointed to the elevator. We all crowded into the elevator and swiped the card. A new set of buttons appeared above the regular ones in mist going from one to fifteen. Addie reached for number one. "Wait" I said, "Didn't she say we need to go to the nineteenth level?"

Addie rolled her eyes. "Well obviously if this Dyson guy didn't want us in the other levels, there should be something pretty important."

She pushed through the mist and we descended a floor and the doors opened, showing us a room with a couple tables. It was a huge room, probably big enough to hold about fifty people while having their personal bubbles. The tables were numbered in order. Number ten closest to the door. We walked along all the tables were there was dry blood everywhere with pieces of rotting skin and bronze machinery. Alex groaned and puked behind me.

Number one was the only intact machine. It looked like me, maybe a few years older. It was a little embarrassing considering that he was completely nude. Basically everyone was getting a look at my noodle. Sammy chuckled, "Dude is it really that small?"

I punched him in the stomach and he coughed, still laughing. I rolled my eyes and inspected the body more carefully. The right forearm had no form of tissue on it. It was just pure bronze circuits and other machinery stuff. Addie inspected it as well, "It's an automaton. One worthy of Daedalus. I've never seen one with real blood and skin."

As soon as she said that I thought of the Terminator. Alex had shown it to me before. I touched its face. It was warm like real human flesh. I felt a jolt of electricity as I touched it and I suddenly got nervous. "Let's go guys. I don't think we should be here."

They were happy to follow me back. I did the math in my head. If I was 173 then my… birthplace should have been somewhere in level seventeen. Alex seemed to know what I was about to do before I even reached for the button. "No. Don't." She looked up at me with her multicolored eyes, "I don't think it's healthy. Especially for you."

I ignored her and my finger went down on the 17 button. We descended into another room a spacious as number one and entered the horrible place. The sign above us told us we were in the "special experimentation room". Instead of tables there were pods, probably the time when they found Percy and took his DNA. We walked to pod 173, the only pod that was with shattered glass around it. I touched the pod and a flow of memories passed through me.

_It was the first time I would be able to leave my rubber room. I was excited. There was a doctor with the same white coat and nametag but the doctor wasn't the one I killed. It was a woman, maybe 27. She had long flowing black hair and brown eyes, her eyes shining with motherly love. She took my hand and showed me around the building. At the end of the tour I asked her a question, "Ms. Bell? Where was I born?" _

_ She looked at me uneasily and crouched down so that our eyes were leveled. "I don't think you should see where you were born. It might be too scary."_

_ My back straightened a bit, "I'm not scared of anything!" I declared._

_ She chuckled and held my hand again and walked to the elevator. She swiped her card and the mist buttons appeared and she pressed one. We descended into the same morbid room and she walked me to my pod, the shattered glass there. I studied it and finally said, "Ms. Bell? Why don't I have a name?"_

_ She gave me a smile. Not like the one most people gave me in the building. Not the "oh I can't wait to dissect you" smile. It was the "I love you" kind of smile. "How about I think of a name and tomorrow I tell you?"_

_ I smiled and hugged her. She carried me all the way back up and into my rubber room. She looked back once before she closed the door. She gave me another pure smile and left._

Sammy's hand went on my shoulder. I felt tears streaming from my eyes. I had no idea who the woman was. I couldn't remember my own memories. I made another promise as I wiped the tears from my face. That I'd find her wherever she was and find out what happened to me. I stood up and looked at Sammy. He wasn't teasing. He looked genuinely concerned. I pretended like nothing ever happened at walked to the elevator.

They walked in with me and I knew they were staring at me. I pressed number 18. The doors opened to reveal another pod room, this time with people inside them. I stared in horror as I saw multiple Percy look-alikes. They were all younger than me, maybe ten or eleven. Tubes were connected to the tube, transparent fluids flowing into the pods. Next to them were one of those heartbeat monitors that were used in hospitals. Sammy stuttered behind me. "W-what is this?"

I unsheathed my sword and walked to the nearest pod. 180. I sliced the tubes and the monitor went into a straight line. I turned back to my friends, this time not bothering to wipe the tears. "They don't deserve this. A life of pure fear and pain."

Addie had a tear in her eye but she nodded and pulled out her sword and sliced 181. Together we cut down their lifelines until all of them were dead, except for the last one which was broken like mine. I didn't care. That just meant one less life to extinguish. While we walked back to the elevator Luna stopped me. Everyone else left for the elevator and didn't look at us. She kissed me in the lips and whispered, "That was brave." And left to the elevator.

I stood there, slightly dumbfounded but returned to the lift. I pressed the last button and we finally descended to the bottom floor. No one was present. The place was filled with monitors of different sizes, all of them blank. We shuffled through the room looking around. One by one the screens popped up and a man in a business suit, sitting behind a desk waved at me. "Hello."

The man was Caucasian with combed over brown, graying hair. Even though he had graying hair he only looked about thirty, maybe a bit older. He was holding a Cuban cigar in the background I could here music. I think it was Pachelbel Canon in D major. Odd for an evil man like this guy. "So I'm guessing your Mr. Dyson. Isn't that a vacuum cleaner?"

He rolled his eyes and let out a puff from his mouth. "You wouldn't believe how many times I've heard that one. Of course I killed all that have ever said that but still, you wouldn't believe it." He looked over everyone and smiled, "Ah now I can see all your faces. Luna Avila Ramirez-Arellano that was a very touching moment you had with 173 here. But remember. He's just a worthless pile of flesh."

Luna pulled out her Swiss Army knife and unfolded the cork screw and it turned into a loaded crossbow. She shot the biggest screen of Mr. Dyson in the face. The screen shattered, shooting out sparks. Mr. Dyson laughed and turned his attention to the others, "Addie Jackson! How ironic! I was chatting with your father earlier. He told me how he wanted to see you. Too bad he'll never will."

The floor cracked around Addie as her face grew red. "TELL ME WHERE HE IS!" she screamed.

Dyson smiled and puffed his cigar again, "I'm afraid you're not in any position to command me in such manner."

Sammy looked confused, unsure of what to do but Dyson already turned to Alex, "Alexandra Grace. A very beautiful name if I do say so myself. I had a wife named Alexandra. I hated her. Don't worry too much about Luna's relationship with 173. He won't live long enough to be with any of you."

Alex vibrated with electricity and let out the occasional tiny bolt from her skin. Dyson finally looked over to me. He smiled like I was his greatest prize, "Project 173. One of the strongest projects I ever commissioned. Amazing how you took out Cerberus so easily. In the field he always destroyed his opponent but I suppose he underestimated you. But don't worry Ladon and number one that you activated will not underestimate you. If you live come to the docks of Anchorage, Alaska. My men will find you. Too-da-loo!"

The screens turned blank again and the elevator doors behind us opened. Out stepped the nude number one automaton, and a Percy look-alike that had grotesque claws where his nails should be and green acidic fluids pouring out of his mouth. He smiled at me and waved with his gross hands, "Hello… Brother."

**A/N: So that concludes another chapter. Have fun wondering what Ladon is like. And as a final statement I would like to ask you if you could check my new story Nightmares Return. I posted it before but deleted it and I'm in the process of rewriting it but the fact that it's a sequel makes it worse because that would require you to actually read the first story! So I've decided in posting another chapter in The Lost Soldier that will summarize that story, so if you wish to please check out the last chapter of The Lost Soldier then read my semi-new story. It's cool if you're not interested, in that case I'll just stop the semi new story. Thanks and remember to favorite, follow and review!**


	10. Ladon

**A/N: Sorry for not updating any sooner. Yesterday I was finishing with all the revising and stuff but then my internet went out! I tried to fix it for like thirty minutes but it wouldn't work. It got me so mad and I wanted to update as soon as I woke up today but I forgot about it until now. Anyway, has it snowed where you live? It snowed for me and I got to skip a math test :)**

Ladon went after me and Sammy while Project 1 attacked Addie, Luna, and Alex. Sammy tapped his silver watch and it turned into a silver shield the size of a NBA backboard. Ladon puked out his acid in a jet right at Sammy. He raised his shield, blocking it but I had to worry about Ladon who was showing off his teeth to me. "You might want to brush your teeth." I suggested.

He growled and swiped me with his claws. I sidestepped, ending up next to Sammy. His shield was gone. He looked at my confused expression, "Apparently that stuff is acidic enough to burn through metals."

Ladon swiped at me three times all of which I swiftly dodged. I realized I hadn't even drawn my sword. I took it out, the milky white blade glowing in the dark. I sliced down on his head but Ladon grabbed it with his claws. He smiled and kicked me in the stomach. I fell over while Sammy struggled to defend me. My stomach was torn up by claws that were apparently also on his toes. I got up and pulled Riptide as well.

Ladon dissolved Sammy's sword and threw Sammy across the room. I advanced on Ladon who was egging me to continue. He spat his acid straight at me and in defense I put both swords in defensive X position. The jet of acid ricocheted off the swords, spraying on my fingers, on the ground, on the walls, just everywhere. When the jet stopped I inspected my swords. The acid hissed on the white sword and evaporated while the acid just slid off Riptide. Ladon looked at me wide eyed. "Yeah that's right buddy. Enchanted blades here."

I sliced everywhere, taking off chips of his skin that he couldn't protect. I would occasionally get acid on my skin, turning it raw and red. I was tiring but Ladon was just getting started. He turned into a massive dragon, his mouth flowing with even more acid. He roared at me, the flow of acid and air blowing me back. I moaned as I opened my eyes. My whole body was burning, my throat felt swollen so that it was difficult to breathe. Ladon towered over me. "Cerberus was a weakling. Be glad you have the honor of dying by me."

I shoved Riptide in his mouth, making his blood flow into my arm. Even his blood burned. I screamed as it ran down my arm, along with Ladon's scream. I let go of Riptide and Ladon spat Riptide out, far away from me. I saw Sammy creeping behind Ladon. He prepared to try and eat me again but I threw my white blade at him. He dodged like I thought he would and the sword sank right next to Sammy. I didn't see him because Ladon blocked my view but I hoped he had caught my plan. "You really annoy me." Ladon growled.

He widened his mouth over my head but stopped as a sword pierced through his dragon chest. Sammy had stabbed so far into his back that the point of the sword almost touched my own chest. It retracted and went through again and again until Ladon went limp. Sammy pulled Ladon off me and tried to pour nectar in my mouth. My throat felt less swollen and he began to pour the nectar all over my body, healing all my burns. I looked off to the girls in their own battles.

Addie blocked a punch and whacked number 1 away from her. Luna shot a bolt into number 1's head while Alex exploded the wall next to him. Number 1 fell, his flesh burning away. Sammy helped me up and the girls came to my side. Luna smiled, "We got them. Don't worry."

I tried to open my mouth to warn them but nothing came out but a croak. Number 1 grabbed Luna by the arm and flung her away. He was red hot from the explosion, his flesh completely gone. He pushed Alex away and kicked Addie to the ground. Sammy tried to stab him with my sword but number 1 knocked it aside and punched him in the face. Number 1 was no longer red hot but it still hurt as he wrapped his hands around my neck. He lifted me up off the ground, choking me.

_Maybe you should deactivate him. _HOW!? _I dunno. That's your problem. _OH THANKS! THAT HELPED A LOT. _You're welcome.__** Maybe you should touch his face again. That's the only contact you made with him and Dyson said you activated him.**_I touched his face and he immediately powered down and dropped me. I fell over feeling paralyzed. My eyes drooped down and I hoped that it wasn't me just dying. _**You probably are.**_

* * *

_ I was back on the beach except I was alone this time. The water stung my toes either because it was freezing cold or because Poseidon's curse. I figured I would have to wait for him so I stood patiently. For about five seconds. Whenever you made an ADHD kid wait things never turn out well. I threw nearby garbage into the sea and yelled curses at him, "Hurry up!"_

_ Soon enough, Poseidon came walking out of the sea. He still wasn't smiling. But he didn't look at me with so much anger any more. He stared into my eyes and sternly said, "You will never speak to me in such manner ever again."_

_ He assessed me and tried for a smile. He sat in the water and patted the ground next to him, gesturing me to sit with him. I sat but kept my distance. "Do you know what kind of god I am?" he asked._

_ I shrugged, "The kind that disowns blood relatives?" He frowned but continued to stare at the sea. "The kind that curses a clone that never wished to exist? The kind that leaves his own son to be captured? The kind that acts like a girl having her period?"_

_ Poseidon stared at me funny but I didn't react. He took a deep breath and nodded, "Yes those are all true. I'm a moody god. Always have been. It's not likely to change. All I want is for you to forgive me… son."_

_ My body felt warmer as he said that. He called me his son. But my anger came back in. "How about you release me from your curse? That might help."_

_ He sighed and shook his head. "Just like I can't take away a blessing, I cannot take way a curse either. I'm sorry."_

_I shrugged, "I guess it doesn't matter. I have to step out of Percy's shadow someday." Poseidon gave me a questioning look. "I think my soul is in fragments right now and a little bit of Percy is mixed with the fragments. That explains all the visions of Percy's memory. I think I have to somehow piece my soul together, how I'll do that I have no idea._

_Poseidon clapped my back. "I wish you luck in that." The world began to stir and Poseidon talked at a rapid rate, "We don't have much time but remember, you are my son and you don't need Perseus to prove it to me."_

* * *

I woke up, my head on Addie's shoulder. My cheek was covered in my drool while Addie looked at me with obvious disgust. As soon as she saw that I woke up she pushed my head away. "Now we're even. Promise that we won't drool on each other?"

I nodded and wiped the drool. We were in a long compartment of seats and I wondered what sort of vehicle we were in. "What are we in?" I asked. "A train?"

Alex who was sitting on my right shook her head. She looked ecstatic, "We're in my grandpa's domain now! Right now you're in a plane headed towards Alaska!"

As if on cue the plane hit a bit of turbulence. I clutched my seat and suddenly felt very scared. I realized Addie was doing the same as me. Her knuckles were white from holding the seat so long. Alex seemed to enjoy our uneasiness. "Have fun for the next couple minutes guys."

I quietly whispered to Addie, "How long have we been in air?"

She let a simple sentence leak out of her mouth. "We're landing in fifteen minutes."

It felt a lot longer than fifteen minutes but all I remembered doing was praying with Addie that we wouldn't blow up. As soon as we landed, Addie and I burst from the plane, ignoring the flight attendants that tried to calm us down.

We didn't stop running until we were in the airport parking lot. Everyone else strolled over to us afterwards. Sammy said nothing about it but I could see the devilish look in his eyes and I knew I would never hear the end of this. I suddenly felt the cold and rubbed my arms. "I didn't really pack for Alaska." I said.

Alex looked through her bag and gave me the parka I had given her so long ago. I took it gratefully and zipped up. I was still wearing shorts but my legs weren't as cold as my upper body. "So where to?" I asked.

Luna pulled out her map again. "Well we're going to the port in Anchorage so… we could catch a taxi-no a bus, we have too many people." She pointed where we were on the map. "It's close to where we are. Should only take a couple minutes."

Addie took a look and gave the map back to Luna. "We could just walk. I mean it would only take an hour or so. Plus I don't want to meet any resistance like in the airport."

They all nodded and I had a feeling I missed something pretty important. We walked along the road in two lines. Alex, Sammy, and Addie in one while I was stuck in the back with Luna. She rubbed her arm as she walked making me wonder what happened. "Hey what's wrong with your arm?"

She pulled up her sleeve and showed me her bandaged arm. "That automaton had burning hot parts. He grabbed me and threw me away, remember? Besides, I'd worry more about you."

"Me?" I asked. "Why me?"

She gave me a very sarcastic look. "Oh I don't know. Maybe because Ladon puked on you with acid."

We walked in awkward silence again which I seemed to be good at making. Alex constantly shot dirty looks at Luna and flashed amazing smiles at me. I slowed down, signaling Luna to do the same. When we were at least ten yards away from everyone else I talked. "Why does Alex hate you so much?"

She gave me a dry smile, "Do you really wanna know?"

I nodded not knowing what I was heading to.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review, favorite, and follow. Have fun in the snow!**


	11. Oh Na Na, What's my name?

**A/N: So it's been a snow day since Friday for me and it's probably gonna be a snow day until next week so you can expect at least three chapters this week. If I don't manage to put three more chapters that means I've gone back to school :(**

"Well do you know who my mom had a crush on as a teenager?" I shrugged, "Percy Jackson?"

Luna nodded, "Correct. She did crush on him at one point but she was just someone she got over. But who she loved was the great Jason Grace." I gaped while Luna continued, "And one time when Piper was pregnant, Jason and Piper got in a fight. A pretty bad one. Then he got himself wasted and went to bed with mom."

I closed my mouth and scratched my arm. Not only had I made her share an uncomfortable story, I had increased the awkwardness. "So I guess that must suck…" I said.

She shook her head and gave me a weak smile. "I don't like Jason for playing my mom like that. But he also fought for custody over me so I guess he really cares about me."

"So… you're okay with it?"

"Not okay. Just more at ease. Whenever I see him he just gives me a smile which is good enough for me. Plus Piper always invites me over for some cookies."

Luna smiled like she was reliving the thought. "So you're basically Alex's sister. Why don't you two get along? And wouldn't Reyna make you stay away from Piper too?" I asked.

Luna laughed and kicked the snow as we walked, "Obviously you've never had a half sister. We hate each other because we're always competing to see who is best. She's powerful and beautiful but I'm smart, strategic. It always unnerves her to see me win at something. Piper and my mom are on good terms too. They both saw how idiotic Jason was and their friendship was left untainted."

"Well, then why can't you shoot out lightning bolts and stuff? So far all I've seen you do is destroy monsters by hand to hand combat." I asked.

She shrugged, "I guess Alex got those genes. I've got nothing from dad. Maybe the ability to get knocked out often but other than that, nothing. What about you? What do you know about yourself?"

Her question surprised me. I didn't expect it to be turned to me so quickly. "Why did you pause at your pod? Were you reminiscing or something?" I nodded, "There was someone who was special to me… like a mother. She was going to give me a name…"

Luna pondered on this. "Can I give you a name?"

I shrugged. Luna thought for a moment but finally gave me a name. "How about Teddy?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Sounds a bit weak." She smiled and explained, "Your name's Teddy because on the inside you're soft and nice but when you fight you're as strong as a bear."

I nodded, "I'll agree with the bear part." I said in a fake arrogant tone. "I am a pretty good fighter."

Luna laughed and hugged me. "Never mind. You're just soft." We both laughed and stared at each other's eyes. That's when I noticed how unique her eyes were. They weren't the dark obsidian like Reyna's. They were a dark sapphire. We stopped walking for a moment and I released her from my arms. "We should… um… catch up."

Luna let go as well and jogged to everyone else. I stayed behind, walking at a fast pace. The voices in my mind spoke again. _Dude she likes you! __**If we live you should ask her out.**__ And if you need me to I could control your body for you. _I shook the voices out and jogged to my friends.

* * *

At the port of Anchorage we stood round, waiting for Dyson's men. Addie was frowning, keeping an eye out. "It's probably a trap" she said, which I already figured. "We should keep an eye out."

We all ignored her and stood around talking. I sensed something in the water and looked to the docks. There were your regular fishing boats but behind a large boat was a partially concealed mini submarine. It looked large enough to fit about ten people if you squished them in. My eyes darted around and I spotted three men in army fatigues, and balaclavas covering their faces. One had sunglasses on so I couldn't tell if he was watching me. I turned around and whispered into Addie's ear, "Don't look now but there are some gunmen behind us. On my go we attack them."

I turned around and listened closely. I heard the splash of a puddle and the swift movement of fabric. A chord wrapped around my neck and cut my air off. I kicked back and my foot hit his crotch and the tension on my throat relaxed. I flipped him over and punched him in the throat. The others were taken care of, each lying on the ground in a similar fashion. Pedestrians screamed and ran away but I didn't pay them any attention. "We should take their clothes and their sub." I said.

We took their equipment and clothes and left them in an abandoned fish store. I suited up into one of their clothes, surprised to see that it fit me. Sammy took the biggest one and Addie took the smallest ones. I handed her the sunglasses. "They might see you as a girl if you show your eyes." I said.

She took them and put them on, effectively making her look less feminine. She shook a pair of handcuffs at me. "Before we get inside we should handcuff everyone else so it looks like we caught someone." She said.

I took all of our weapons under my arm. I still had Riptide and now a gun that I was too scared to use. We walked as casually as possible to the hidden sub and entered. We stood in the navigation room where I felt the sea's power coursing through me. Addie took a glance at the monitor. "Coordinates have already been set in. It might take a while for this thing to get down to the base so I suggest you all rest. 173-er, Teddy I'll wake you up so you can take the next watch, you have more sea power than me."

And with that we all laid on the cold metal floor while Addie navigated the sub lower and lower. Alex laid next to me, squeezing my arm so hard that I thought it'd fall off. I guess she was scared in Poseidon's domain like I was in the plane. "So" I said. "I guess you should have fun like I did in your grandpa's domain."

She punched my chest and snarled at me. The submarine wobbled a bit and she yelped and put her face into my shoulder. I chuckled and looked over to Sammy who was snoring away. Then at Luna who was sitting on the floor, looking at me with obvious contempt. When we made eye contact she looked away. A soft muffled voice came out from Alex, "If we drown you're saving me Nemo."

* * *

I took driving duty while Addie snored along with everyone else. It gave me a lot of time to talk with the voices. _Be prepare for what's in that fortress. For all we know, Chimera could be waiting for you there. __**Or it could be Dyson. **__Pray that it's Chimera._ Why? Wouldn't it be easy to have Dyson? _You kidding me? Dyson was the one who finally cracked down and hunted me down himself and killed me. __**Me too!**__ No matter what, just run away whenever you see that guy. __**By the way you should probably stop now. **_

I halted the sub and I emptied the ballast tanks and felt us rising. I heard sirens on the outside and I shook everyone awake. "C'mon guys. Get your game faces on." I said as I handcuffed Luna and Alex.

I twisted the wheel to the upper hatch and I felt the cool air rush against my face. There was a catwalk beside the submarine. I went out first and helped everyone out. Some of the men in the army fatigues looked at us funny so I pushed Alex so hard that she fell over. She looked at me dirtily but it worked. Less people were staring at me. "Get up!" I barked.

Alex got up and I pushed her along with the barrel of my gun. Sammy did the same and Addie trailed behind us, carrying our bags and equipment. As we walked off the catwalk, a welcoming party arrived. Three men in snow camo like us took some of the bags Addie was holding to lighten her load. She grunted and thanked them.

I got nervous as one of them asked me a question. "So where will these prisoners go?" I coughed and jabbed Alex in the back. She jumped forward and I took a wild shot. "Straight to our superior."

He was wearing a balaclava but I could tell he was surprised. "Dr. Sierra? These prisoners must be pretty damn important to get an audience with him. Careful Stevens. I heard the last person that met him was shot dead."

I felt my Adam's apple pound against my throat. We walked through a giant steel sliding door to see a long hall with multiple doors. At room 129 they dumped our equipment. They led us to the door at the end where a man was sitting behind a desk, enjoying some animal crackers. "Oh hello! Sit, sit. Stevens, Jones, and Zhao. Stay here."

He had wiry grey hair that stuck out almost everywhere. He looked like Doc Brown from Back to the Future. Alex seemed to notice too and said, "Hey Doc. Did ya come back from the future?"

He sarcastically laughed and tipped an elephant animal cracker at her. "You're a funny one Alexandra." He bit the head off and chuckled to himself, "Zhao!" he suddenly barked. He spoke to Sammy in Chinese but all I interpreted out of it was our, or at least my friend's names. Sammy spoke back calmly and the doctor nodded.

"So they escaped. Unfortunate. Mr. Dyson would have liked to have 173 back in his possession. He will be informed of your failure… but I am a forgiving man. 173!"

I jumped and I felt people grabbing my arms and twisting it behind my back. Sammy and Addie were already on the ground but I tried to fight back. It took three men to finally hold me. Dr. Sierra smiled at me. He ripped off the balaclava, revealing my face. He stuck a lion cracker in my mouth and paced around waving his hand. "173. Teddy. Nemo. Whatever the fuck your name is. HOW IGNORANT DO YOU THINK WE ARE?"

He slammed his fists on his desk, upsetting the animal crackers laying on it. I slowly chewed and swallowed the animal cracker in my mouth. He noticed this and stuck another one in my mouth. "But I am a forgiving man. I'm willing to let you all live. But you must all receive severe punishments. Starting with you."

One of the men forced my hand onto the desk, the other two restrained me. Dr. Sierra shoved another cracker in between my back teeth. "This is going to hurt so I suggest you bite down on the cracker."

I tried to talk through the cracker, "Whah?"

Dr. Sierra whipped out a large knife and swung down on my hand. The cracker in between my teeth turned into powder as I bit down on it. Despite the force he put in stabbing my ring finger it didn't cut off easily. He had to saw on it for it to completely slice off. I screamed in agony as Sierra picked it up and waved it around. "Oh too bad. I guess you'll never marry Alex now."

I looked at my hand and saw that he cut right at my second knuckle, the middle one. I wiggled it a bit and grimaced as the blood continued to flow out of it. I gave him a look of pure hatred and whispered in a hoarse voice. "I will destroy you."

He laughed and shooed me away. "I'd like to see you try."

**A/N: A lot of people don't read Author notes but I'm introducing a character that's similar to Thalia. If you have the time I'd like you to send some suggestions of what I can name this mystery character. I really don't want to name her myself because it might turn into another "Teddy" which is a horrible name (It was one of my friend's nicknames). If no one sends in a name I'm going to use my back up plan which is really terrible, so please, Please, PLEASE, put in a name as a review or whatever! Remember to Favorite, Follow, and review a name! **


	12. How I Met My Sister

** A/N: Thanks for the name suggestions! I honestly can't think of names by myself. Last time I looked on one of those "name your baby" sites on the internet and my parents asked me a bunch of questions ^_^ long story short, I will never use the internet for names. You really saved me another talk on pregnancy.**

Instead of being put in a small steel cell with my friends, I was sent to sit in a dark room made to fit a few people. Inside were two metal chairs, a metal table, and metal handcuffs. The men who were "escorting" me pushed me down on the chair and handcuffed me. They stood next to me, their assault rifles pointed at me. My finger was still bleeding and I could do nothing about it. "Can I at least get a Band-Aid or something?" I asked.

The man on my left hit me on the head with the butt of his rifle. I saw stars as I took the blow. Other than that nothing eventful happened, at least until Dr. Sierra arrived. He was holding an IPad and muttering to himself. He sat in the chair opposite to me and put down his IPad on the table. "So. I would think you are wondering why I am here."

I stiffly nodded, trying my hardest not to bash his skull open. He tapped the IPad and a hologram showed up. It had the logo, "DEMI INDUSTRIES" in a bright bronze glow. "Well, 173 you are here to receive a history lesson."

He gave me a smile, like I should have been happy to receive a history lesson. "Our company began with Alabaster C. Torrington the son of Hecate and his half-brother, Michael Dyson. Mr. Torrington was a brave individual during the second Titan war but he was banished after Kronos was vanquished."

I had a brief image of a pale blonde man with golden eyes, swinging a scythe around but was brought back to reality as the butt of the rifle hit my head again. "173! I know you have ADHD but really now! Concentrate!"

I focused my eyes on the hologram and he continued, "Mr. Torrington was filled with anger against Perseus Jackson and all the Olympians. So he and his brother created Demi Industries, funded directly by the government to 'assist in banking and financing' but instead, so that they could ruin Olympus, created the first Percy Jackson automaton."

He swiped the IPad and the hologram turned into an automaton, completely identical to the one we faced in Washington except it was the size of an action figure. "Yes this is the one you activated in Washington. The first twenty models of Automaton Perseus were immensely durable, very strong but they went haywire often. But Number 1 made us proud by capturing the real Perseus Jackson. That's when they ditched the Automaton project and moved onto cloning. Which is where I came in."

He swiped the IPad again and the hologram turned into a guy that looked like me. "I created the first Perseus Jackson clone, made of flesh, blood, and bone. Although he faced some… problems."

"What problems?" I asked.

The man on my right hit my head with his rife again. Dr. Sierra cleared his throat, "Do not interrupt me 173. Number 21, the first human Perseus, was just like you. Unpredictable. Strong. But he was always conflicted; Perseus's soul and his were in fragments. Like a mixed jigsaw puzzle. At least that's what he said. He eventually went crazy and we ended him."

He swiped the IPad again so that it showed a guy in the same Demi Industries get-up, except the sleeves were torn off and his head was shaven on the side but the middle was still long, forming a Mohawk. He looked like the "bad boy" and I wondered if anyone would object if I looked like that.

"Keep in mind 173, I am only showing you significant members. This individual is Number 58. He experienced the same defects as Number 21. He escaped just as you and was eventually hunted down by Mr. Dyson himself. He was incredibly reckless and rebellious. One of my more 'hated' projects."

He swiped the IPad into a nerdy looking version of me. He had glasses, neatly combed hair and the type of aura that would lead you to believe that he was intelligently annoying. "And this is another Number 21 defect. Number 83. Smart-ass if I've ever seen one. He had the Number 21 defect and escaped as well and was hunted down just as Number 58."

_That's us. __**Damn! I looked sexy!**__ Shut up you inbred. _Dr. Sierra swiped the IPad and three holograms appeared. One was Cerberus, the other Ladon, and the next a girl that had the same theme as Number 58 except her hair was styled like a boy's. She had long bangs that covered half her face and was dyed, but everywhere else was about an inch or two long. _**Damn, that girl is just my style!**_

Dr. Sierra swiped Cerberus and Ladon away. "You already know these two, now failures due to their inability to kill you. But this one" he pointed to the girl, "Is Chimera. The first female clone I made. It took a lot of effort but I managed to do it."

He didn't elaborate on it so I asked, "If you're objective was to ruin Olympus, why bother in creating a female version? Wouldn't it have been easier just to use males?"

He chuckled and swiped the IPad into another guy that looked like me. "I found that boys are very unresponsive. I tested for a female variant to see which gender was better."

He pointed to the hologram and said, "Now this is you. You can decide if you want to be a failed experiment. Or a god among us."

I stared at him. He seemed to think that his offer was generous. I smiled and nodded. Before anyone could move a muscle I stood straight up. I punched the man on my left in his eye and used him as a shield as the man on the right shot an unnecessary amount of bullets into my shield. As soon as I heard him reloading I threw the shield aside and kicked the gun out of his hand. He pulled out a knife but I snapped his arm and smashed his head on the table. Dr. Sierra was nowhere to be seen.

The men didn't have any handcuff keys but they did have key cards so I ran out the door. I retraced my steps into where they dumped my friends and I guessed correctly when I unlocked a cell using my key card. They were astonished to see me but they didn't object. Alex hugged me but jumped back, "Is that blood?"

I ignored her and beckoned them to follow me. I ran, searching for a door until I came across it. Room 129. I swiped my card and on the other side were our equipment. Luna took her Swiss army knife and two duffel bags, changing her knife into crossbow form. Addie gave Sammy my white sword, "I hope you still have Riptide Teddy. Now extend your arms."

I held them out and she sliced her sword down on my handcuffs. I pulled Riptide out and we began to run down the hallway trying to find the hangar. But I stopped at a cell block, oddly feeling drawn to it. The alarms started buzzing but I was entranced by the cell. Addie pleaded with me, "Teddy! Come on! We'll get caught!"

I ignored her and unlocked the door. Inside was a malnourished man with raven hair, sea green eyes, and a long scruffy beard. If I didn't feel the power radiating off him I would have thought he was a hobo. "Perseus Jackson." I whispered.

Addie peered in. "What are you talking about?"

"Percy Jackson!" I screamed.

I ran in and hugged him but he stayed quiet. His eyes stared into mine and then he jumped me. We wrestled for control but he had the element of surprise. He managed to steal Riptide out of my hands and pointed it to my neck. "Monster." He whispered.

Everyone, including Addie pointed their weapons at him but he stayed concentrated on me. "I'm not a monster. I'm a friend. I was created by Demi Industries, the people who captured you. I escaped from them and made my way to Camp Jupiter. I was on a quest to save you with your daughter, Jas-"

"Daughter?" Percy asked. He got off me and looked at us crazily. "What daughter? I have a daughter? Is she here? Is it the blonde one? Yes it is!" He hugged Addie but she seemed more disgusted. "You look like my Annabeth!" he said.

Luna checked outside the hall and looked at me with a sense of urgency. "I'd hate to tear apart this family reunion but" I picked Percy up fireman style. "We have to leave."

We stormed through the hallway in no particular direction and by chance came across the hangar. But waiting for us was Dr. Sierra and the punk style girl that I saw in the history lesson. She had a steel collar on her neck, making her look like an Addie that was turned punk and caged. "173. Teddy, whatever. You have managed to surprise me again. I would have never thought you would take the chance in beating your guards. But don't worry. Chimera is more than a match for you."

My jaw dropped as I looked at Chimera. Her eyes were sad unlike Cerberus and Ladon's maniacal glare. She almost looked sorry we would have to fight. Dr. Sierra held a remote and pressed a button. The collar shocked the girl, making smoke arise from her neck. She slowly walked to me, ready to fight. The smart decision would have been to take her on with everyone else but I held everyone back. Chimera curled her fingers, making the water near the sub turn into a spear for her. She seemed to mouth, "I'm sorry."

Then she tried to skewer me. I backed away before the spearhead could touch me but I wasn't quick enough to stop the shaft from whacking me across the hangar. I flew into the water near the sub. Dr. Sierra laughed and called out, "Chimera has untamed strength, even greater than you, Ladon, and Cerberus combined! That's why I named her Chimera!"

I jumped out the water as her spear was thrusted to my face. I manipulated the water into a shield and blocked her attack. I bashed her with my shield but it was like trying to knock over a building. Instead, she kicked my shield, once again blasting me away. I got back up and reached for Riptide. I felt nothing in my pocket and stole a glance to Percy. He was absentmindedly twirling Riptide. I cursed myself for not supplying myself with a weapon. She charged me and tried to stab my gut but I deflected with my shield and manipulated more water into a sword. I lunged at her legs but she was too quick.

She pulled her leg back and went low, then sliced my stomach. It wasn't a deep cut but it still shot pain through my whole body. She spun and whacked me a couple times with her spear head, me blocking it every time with my shield. But her strength eventually shattered the water shield, knocking me to the ground. She whispered in a fragile voice, "I'm sorry brother."

She stabbed down but I flipped backwards and stabbed her neck. She sidestepped, my water sword instead glancing off her collar. It sparked for a split second and then began to continuously shock her. I turned back and stared at Sierra. He wasn't even making an effort to save her. I could've walked away and let the electricity kill her but I was sickened by the thought.

I knelt down and grabbed her collar. Using a sword would've been too dangerous and I could cut her throat while trying. The moment my fingers touched the steel, it carried electricity through my body. I tried to tear it off but there was a reason she could never take it off. My body felt like it was frying but I continued to try and rip it off. I heard a roar of water and I opened my eyes to see the collar torn into two separate pieces, the metal lost its luster and was now a weak, dull grey.

Chimera looked relieved to have it off and took my hand as I helped her up. Her throat was black and melted and so were my hands but we were both fine. She raised her arm and I thought she was summoning another spear to kill me but she instead threw it at my friends' direction. Dr. Sierra dodged it and shouted an order to the monsters and men.

The completely ignored my friends as they ran for the sub and concentrated on me and Chimera. They fired bullets, arrows and spears but together we raised a massive highly-dense water shield. Then we attacked. We started our own mini hurricanes and tore through the enemy lines. Arrows were lost within the wind, bullets ricocheted and hit random places, and Dr. Sierra was trying to stay alive the whole time. Chimera was a complete full grown woman-tank. She stopped her hurricane, bulldozing into the enemy. Arrows nipped her skin, never impaling, as she made her way to Sierra. Over my hurricane I heard Alex shout, "Hurry up and get over here! The place is collapsing!"

I looked up and saw that it was true. The sea water was making the steel braces turn dull. I landed near Sierra and Chimera and raised a dome to protect from the monster attacks. Now Chimera, Sierra, and I were trapped inside the dome but I couldn't move a muscle, in effort to hold the dome up. Sierra had a mad look in his eyes and spoke in a machine gun voice, "Chimera this is your last test! Take out 173 and you will be freed from Demi Industries!"

She drew water from my dome and manipulated it into a javelin. She stalked towards Dr. Sierra and stabbed him in the thigh. He fell over howling. "Kill me and Dyson will have your head!"

She scowled and swiftly put an end to him. With her confrontation over I started to swirl the dome around. Then I blew it up, discombobulating everyone near it. With the enemy down all we had to do was reach the sub. Then suddenly a chunk of the ceiling fell down, falling through the catwalk diagonally so that we were completely cut off from water and the sub. The enemy was still discombobulated but without our source of power we wouldn't last long.

I heard a muffled voice underneath the thick ceiling. I couldn't tell who it was but I could barely hear what he or she was saying. I shouted back, "Leave!"

I heard a defiant "no" so I placed my hands on the wall and focused on the sub. I willed it to push away back into the sea and felt it slowly picking up speed as it left the base. Chimera looked back at me, her face showing fear. "We're going to finish the job. Together. Brother and sister."

She was obviously frightened like I was but she grabbed my hand and closed her eyes. I did the same and I felt the walls shudder. We were trying to change the water pressure so that the whole base would cave in but our own energy wasn't enough. _Maybe we could help. _I mentally nodded and the voice replied, _**Alright! One big ass burst of energy coming right up!**_

I felt the water pressure around us abruptly change, tearing through the walls and destroying the whole base. Our hands were ripped away from each other as the sea took us down into the depth of the Pacific. I was caught on a chunk of debris and couldn't move. I tried to take in a breath of air but instead met cold water. The remaining air in my mouth was torn away from me. I screamed in my head, cursing Poseidon. As I blacked out I felt a pair of hands grab me and then everything was gone.

* * *

When I woke up Chimera had her lips on mine, breathing air into my body. I ripped away from her and coughed out a flow of water. I tried to dry myself but my ability in that certain power disappeared. Apparently Chimera couldn't dry herself either. We were on a giant platform of ice, near the edge of the water. We were still in Alaska, where we were I had no idea. We leaned on each other, side by side, and waited for nothing. "Why did you save me? And how?" I asked.

She shivered and pulled her raggedy clothes together and chattered out, "I d-d-don't know. S-s-same r-r-reason you saved m-me I guess. And I t-t-teleported us through the s-s-sea. If we l-l-live long enough I'll t-t-teach you."

We stayed quiet for a while, but eventually she asked me the big question. "Why d-d-did you save m-me?"

Honestly I had no idea. I didn't know her. Then again I didn't even know myself. I shivered and rubbed my arms, still thinking and then I had it. "B-b-because you reminded me of m-m-myself. I was held c-c-captive. In pain. I guess I just d-d-d-didn't want to see it h-happen again."

She shuddered and rubbed her neck. It had healed on contact with the water but my fingers were still burned and blistered. "What's the outside world like?" Chimera asked.

I sighed and let my short memories flow through and I relived my memories for her. As I finished she sighed and leaned her head on my shoulder. "If w-we live you're going to find me a new n-name. Teddy."

She closed her eyes as I felt mine shutting as well. I put my head on top of hers and watched the sunset, wondering if it would be the last one I'd see.

* * *

_ We were together. Chimera and I. Usually I was alone but this time she was with me, standing before Poseidon. She stared at me with a confused expression but I waved it away, "Hello. Dad."_

_ He smiled and clapped our backs. "You've done me proud. You found Percy, freed your sister, and broken your curse."_

_ He was smiling but I could see the sliver of sadness. "There's something else isn't there? Something you're not telling us."_

_ Poseidon nervously fingered the buttons on his Hawaiian shirt. "You, my daughter will have the freedom to choose your name just as… Teddy has."_

_ It must've been an awkward name for me if every damn person I met said my name like that. Poseidon spoke to both of us, this time with a grave expression. "Although you have found your soul" he pointed to her, "Teddy has not. You're future lies with Dyson. Only then will your soul be truly together."_

_ Chimera disappeared from the dream while I stayed behind. I was frustrated that she had found herself so easily. "Teddy I know you're angry but the only advice I can give you is to stay true to who you know you are."_


	13. On the Road Again

**I have to admit it. I absolutely hate this chapter. I basically sat in front of my laptop for 5 hours a day, typing then deleting, typing then deleting. It was hard to try and make a follow up chapter but things will (hopefully) run a little smoother than this chapter.**

**8EternallyMortal8: I'm sorry if Percy seemed like a creepy weirdo but I just tried to imagine how I'd feel if I was trapped for fifteen years. Plus Dyson just lied to Addie :| **

"Kylee?"

"Too girly."

"Katherine?"

"Too elderly."

"Kara?"

As soon as I heard Teddy utter the name I knew it was the one. "Yes. That one. Kara. I love it." I said.

Teddy squinted at the book and laughed, "Oh sorry I meant Kiara! Do you want to be Kiara or just plain Kara?"

I rolled my eyes and took the book out of his hands. "Not funny Teddy." I tried to say his name as menacingly as I could but it was too hard with such a cute name like his. "Whatever, let's return the book to Annabeth." I said.

We got up from my bed and we walked outside. It had been three months since my "escape" but I still was in awe with the outside world. We walked side by side to New Rome while I pondered our relationship. I was hard on him a lot but he always cared for me like a brother should. In fact, even though he hangs out with his friends often, especially Alex, he always found time to spend with me.

I thought for so long that we were in front of Annabeth's door and I didn't even know it. Teddy was giving me a funny look that I ignored. He knocked on the door, which Annabeth opened almost immediately. "Oh hey guys!" I handed her the book and she ushered us in. "Percy wanted to see you anyways."

Percy was sitting on the couch, his expression made it look like he was thinking which was a very rare occurrence. When he saw us he got up and hugged us. Even though we were technically him, he acted like a father to us which I found very reassuring. He stepped out the door and gestured for us to come with him. When Annabeth gave him a look he gave her a sorry look. "Sorry Wise girl. It's just something for them to know."

We walked out into the streets of New Rome where he bought us hot chocolate. He led us out the city and into the Field of Mars where he sat, sipping on his hot chocolate. We sat next to him, waiting for him to speak. After he took another sip he spoke, "There's something you two have to know about Dyson before you go after him."

I gasped. How did he find out what we were planning? I opened my mouth to make up an excuse but he hushed me. "Don't try to make up an excuse. I know exactly how we lie." Teddy listened intently and I decided to stay quiet, "I don't know where he is. But I do know where one of his 'factories' are."

"How?" Teddy asked.

Percy's face fell and I knew it was a bad idea to ask him. I was about to punch Teddy but Percy answered, "The reason I was locked up and tortured was because I tried to find some information on Demi Industries. They were going to keep me in a rubber room for life but when I went out for a bathroom trip I searched some files on their computer."

This time I asked him a question, and a little more bluntly than I meant. "Where is it?"

He looked up to me and said, "In a nuclear power plant. Twenty miles east of Rochester, New York. If you two are going to confront whatever is there I'm going too."

Teddy and I immediately shook our heads. "We can't ask you to do anything Percy." Teddy said. "Yeah, you've already been through a lot. There are people who need and miss you here."

He stood up, signaling that our conversation was near over. "But I owe you two. You saved me and my daughter. I owe you everything."

Just by looking into his eyes I could tell he would sacrifice anything to protect us. It made me feel… loved. Something I didn't feel much. I hugged the closest thing I had to a father and told him, "We already owed you everything since the moment we were created. Please don't go… dad."

Percy's face softened and nodded, although he still looked unsure of us. He left us in the Field of Mars for us to plan. Teddy pitched in his idea, "How about we just teleport through the sea? Rochester is a couple miles away from Lake Ontario so we could easily teleport, then walk there. And once we get there we can blow it up or something."

The last sentence caught me off guard. "Wait blow it up?"

He nodded, "Kara if we're going there we have to destroy everything Demi Industries could use for testing. That includes the whole Power plant."

It made sense but I was still nervous to do something as extreme of this. Teddy and I stood up; we were going to pack but Teddy remembered he would have to ask Leo for some explosives. We walked into his ever burning forge and screamed his name, "LEO!"

He jumped out of the fire, patting out the flames that arose on his clothes. "Ah… my two favorite demigods. What can I do for you troublemakers?"

If it were me speaking I would have been totally vague with the whole thing but Teddy just straight up asked, "Hey Leo, do you have any time bombs?"

I facepalmed while Leo looked overjoyed. He jumped into a pile of junk and began to swim around, finding the right components. Within ten minutes he had finished a hand mirror sized bronze disk with green light pulsating from it. The front had glowing dashes around the disk, forming a ring on the disk. The center had a twist and push button for priming. "Because this is all demigod business, I won't ask you what you are up to." Leo pointed to the glowing dashes on the disk, "Each dash counts for three seconds. So in total you should have one minute to prime it and get your podexs out of there."

Teddy took the disk and shoved it in his back pocket. Leave it to him to just stick a bomb on his butt. We thanked Leo who probably didn't hear us while he jumped back into the flames. We went into our barracks, pulling out a backpack each and packing clothes, ambrosia, nectar, duct tape, and other demigod goodies. We were about to leave the camp until we were stopped by some of Teddy's friends. "Where do you think you're going?"

Alex was leaning on Sammy who had turned into a gorilla for some strange reason. I got frustrated when I realized they had their bags packed as well. "No, no, no! I am not going with you guys! This is something me and Teddy have to do."

Alex sneered and crossed her arms. "Just because you're more powerful than me doesn't mean that you can order me around."

My temper flared and I was about to through her across New Rome but Teddy held me back. I scowled because I knew I didn't want to fight him. Sammy changed into a human and shrugged, "Dude I'm fine if you don't want me to go but Alex is going whether you like it or not."

Teddy was probably more than content because the two had something going on with each other. Alex sent me playful raspberry but all I wanted to do was rip off her tongue. She linked arms with him and quickly said, "Okay let's leave before Luna-"

"Before Luna what?"

Luna appeared from nowhere as she lazily pushed Alex away from Teddy, "Oh yeah, it's called boundaries. Maybe you've heard of them?"

Now here was a girl I loved. Luna grimly turned to Teddy, "Addie was going to come but she said she wanted to spend a bit more time with dad. I know you don't want me to but if you're willing to, I want to go with you."

Before anyone could answer I yelled yes. Everyone stared at me but I didn't care. At least I would have someone to talk to during the time Alex and Teddy decided to… socialize. We walked out to the Little Tiber where we slowed the flow so that it wouldn't wash us away. We all held hands, excluding Sammy who was now starting to go out of our sight. I closed my eyes and concentrated on Lake Ontario.

* * *

As soon as I felt the ground disappear under our feet I knew we were successful in our teleportation but I was completely drained and couldn't do much except float like a dead body. I felt someone grab me and swim slowly towards the shore. Hopefully it wasn't Alex. Before I even sent another thought through my brain, I felt the water tremor. I lazily looked to Teddy who had also stopped dead in his tracks. "Kara…" he began.

FWOOM! The lake exploded as a giant sea serpent swallowed me whole. I slithered down its throat but stopped as I grabbed onto the slippery insides. I pulled a dagger from my black combat boots and prepared to slice my way out but the serpent thrashed around, making me drop it somewhere.

When the shaking stopped I saw my dagger pierced within the walls of the throat. I quickly pulled it out and sliced open a new path for me. As I sliced though the last few tissues I felt the serpent shooting straight up again. I tumbled out of the slimy hole I made in the serpent's neck and feel from the air, headed straight towards the hard ground.

Before I could touch the ground Alex flew in and caught me last moment. She floated us to the shore where we could see the serpent retreating like the chicken it was. For now, Alex had earned my respect. But that still didn't change the fact that I was covered in green monster blood. Teddy ran ashore with Luna and hugged me, despite all the grossness. "Thank gods you're alive!" he said.

He eventually pulled off me and it was then I realized that it was night. Luna noticed too and announced, "It's getting late. I think we've all had enough adventure for one day. I'll take first watch, everyone else can sleep."

Teddy settled himself near a tree where he and Alex shared a sleeping bag. Luna look disgusted as they dozed off. Even though Teddy probably was oblivious to all around him, I could tell what was going on. Before my tired eyes fell I gave Luna some advice. "If you want to be with my brother you'll have to make the first move. In case you haven't noticed he is quite oblivious to everything."

She gave me a shocked look while my eyes finally shut, drifting me to the land of Morpheus.

* * *

_ Teddy was clutching another clone's hand on to of what I thought was a cooling tower. The clone was younger than us, maybe six or seven but I could tell what he had been injected with. He was shifting his form from time to time, often turning into a seven headed snake monster then back to human. "You can't do it Teddy. Let him go." I said._

_ He looked straight into the boy's eyes as he transformed again and again. "No." he grimaced, "I can do this. I can save him!"_

_ In the boy's hand was the time bomb Leo had given us. Only five dashes remained, meaning there was only fifteen seconds left. We were out of time but Teddy wasn't showing any sign of letting go. We waited as the timer ran out, blowing me out of the dream._

**Again I'm sorry for this chapter. My heart was not put in it and it was just too awkward! Thanks for reading and remember to favorite, follow, and review!**


	14. I Accidentally Get Eaten Again

**A/N: So I took a bit loner than usual because I was trying for an extra long chapter ^_^ Hope you like it and can you tell me whether you'd rather have shorter chapters opposed to longer ones like this? I myself like keeping it to about 1.5K but writing nearly 4K was fun and I feel like it's more rewarding to you awesome readers!**

When I woke up Teddy was talking to the fishes. Then I realized I was hearing the fishes too. _Okay Kara. You're not going crazy. _I got up and made my way to him. The fish waved a fin and I heard _Goodbye Lord and Lady! _And it zoomed away leaving us alone. Teddy's eyes were bloodshot like he hadn't slept at all. "Why didn't you wake me up for the next watch?" I asked.

He rubbed his eyes and grinned. "You looked tired and I couldn't sleep so I figured I would take watch the whole night."

I flicked his head, which probably hurt more than I meant it to. He leaned on my shoulder and began to drift off. Before he was unconscious he muttered, "Wake me up in a few."

I let him sleep, knowing he would need it. Lake Ontario was actually beautiful in the morning, the lack of serpents helped make it more attractive. A twig snapped behind me and Teddy shot up faster than I could whip my head around. A kid maybe six that looked a lot like Teddy was tiptoeing his way over from the trees. We made eye contact and he started screaming, "MONSTERS!"

I pounced on him and shut his mouth. We really didn't need another serpent incident. His eyes were fearful as he looked up at me and Teddy. I recognized the boy in my dream and I would have liked to have thrown him to the serpent but Teddy made me get off him. He crouched so that he was eye level with the kid and spoke in a soft, fatherly voice. "Listen. Me and my sister know where you are from. We know what you've been through. We've been in the same situation before but right now we need your help to stop anything like this from ever happening."

The kid gave a nervous glance towards me and he clutched Teddy, "Do you promise you'll protect me from the monsters?"

He smiled and nodded. Teddy stood up and the kid grabbed his hand. From someone else's point of view it would look like Teddy was the under aged father. He walked him over to where our bags were. "Are you hungry? We've got… granola bars… laffy taffy… and I think these are pancakes."

The kid shrieked with joy and took my laffy taffy. Luna and Alex woke up soon after. Alex's hair was messy and stuck up everywhere but Luna's managed to stay in its braid. Luna noticed the boy and asked, "Did I miss anything?"

Teddy explained to her what had happened and she began to play with him, doing all that motherly stuff with him. I'm not really much for matchmaking but they seemed perfect for each other. Alex on the other hand slowly got up and patted down her choppy golden hair. She sat to herself just like me, watching Luna and Teddy play around with the kid. She had an unhappy look on her face, almost like…jealousy?

After waiting around for a while I finally took charge. I grabbed my slightly slimy bag and slung it on my back. "We should get moving" I said, "I want to get to this factory and destroy it once and for all."

Everyone grabbed their bags and Teddy egged the kid on. "C'mon. All you have to do is lead us and we'll take care of the rest. I promise no harm will come to you."

* * *

The kid held on to Teddy's and Luna's hand at all times as we went inside the main building. The halls were lined with fuel tanks like they had been trying to fill up about a hundred Boeings. "They don't use Uranus or electric." He said.

"What?" I asked.

The kid frowned and tried to pronounce his words carefully, "This place is a Noo-clear Power plant. They don't use Uranius or elections anymore. They use gas."

Teddy had dumbfounded look on his face too so Luna translated. "He said that this place doesn't have uranium to power the city anymore. Meaning it's abandoned. Electricity is gone so they use gas to power everything."

Teddy instinctively touched his back pocket. I knew what he was thinking. If the bomb set off right now, we would never make it out alive. Teddy announced, "I don't think this is the right place. The main building would be too obvious. Anyone would come here" he asked the kid, "Where do you think they held you before you escaped?"

He closed his eyes and thought about it. "Those big circles."

"The cooling towers?" Alex asked.

He shrugged and Luna dragged both Teddy and the kid with her. "Here. Look there's a map… the cooling tower is on the outside so we would have to exit this place first. We can set your bomb there."

We exited the creepy place and entered the cooling towers but I couldn't help but gasp. Fuel tanks everywhere were feeding into the giant rotor above, providing electricity. And worse than that were the pods that were everywhere. It lined the inside of the cooling tower in a spiral all the way near the top. I estimated at least 300 pods. And there were three other towers. The only resistance were three telekhines which we dispatched quickly. "What is this?" I asked.

The floor was filled with murky water. Not that clean but watery enough for me. A few bones and flesh bits were scattered on the water that slightly sickened me. Alex looked green and I thought she would puke but she seemed to be holding it in.

Suddenly a monitor flashed on, the person on the screen was none other than Dyson. "Ah there you are! My three most successful clones ever created!"

I stared uneasily at the kid but he was staring at the screen, dumbstruck. "You were very foolish in coming to my largest manufactures. The greatest demon guards my life's work and you my dear children are trapped here."

He laid his eyes on me and spoke again, "Sierra always considered you his greatest creation. But you lost your potential when Hydra was born. What is your names again? Kara and Teddy? Get ready to be terminated."

Teddy was red with anger. He shouted at the screen, "I will kill Hydra! And after I'm finished with him, I'm going after you! All this time you've been hiding but now it's time for you to show yourself and fight us face to face."

He smiled and pulled out a remote. He pressed a button and threw the remote away, "Good luck with that… Teddy. Your only hint is Florida. Now a little science lesson for you children." I cursed under my breath and I saw Teddy do the same. "I created a stimulant that can be injected within the bloodstream. This substance has the power to make the user obey me and only me. Not really that amazing, yes, but when inside the right person…"

I stared uneasily at Teddy and he did the same to me. Which one of us had this stuff? We both were under captive and had taken a million injections. Could one of those have been this stimulant? The TV turned off but the room was still glowing a bit. I stared at the kid and realized his eyes were glowing green. I took a step back and pulled Alex and Luna with me. "Uh… Teddy? I think you should back away."

He noticed the boy's eyes and he slowly backed away. I sensed the attack before it came. The boy lunged at Teddy but I got in his way. Instead of feeling a six year old pushing against me, I felt a giant dragon smashing me to the sky. He flew me above the cooling tower and dropped me. I fell on the tower but I didn't break anything. Perks of being a super strong clone. The dragon landed on the cooling tower next to me and I got a good look at it. It was like a regular dragon, green and scaly, but it had a longer neck. He roared, "Death to the enemies of Dyson!"

He snapped at my head but I ducked and rolled under his legs. I pulled my dagger and stabbed in between the protective scales. It lodged inside Hydra but his tail came and nearly whipped me off the tower. Instead I grabbed the tail and held on for dear life as he swung me back and forth. "FIGHT YOU INSOLENT COWARD!"

I let go at the right moment and landed on the tower again, almost falling off. The little innocent boy that we found this morning was now gone. Replacing him was a killing machine. He stalked his way towards me, but over the edge I could see Alex flying, holding Luna up, who was aiming her crossbow at Hydra. I pointed in their direction, "Hey Hydra! Look over there!"

He turned and Luna fired at his eyes. He screamed and began to fly after them. _Oh right! He can fly! _I grabbed his tail so he couldn't lift off but it was draining all my energy. Then suddenly he transformed into the six year old boy, the glowing green eyes still present. He pulled the dagger out from his back and charged me.

I could tell he wasn't skilled with a blade. He was more of the smash and kill type. I managed to dodge most of his attacks but a punch made its way to my stomach, making me fly off the tower. Alex picked me up from the air and tossed me back on. Luna was on the tower with me and Alex soon landed next to us. She pulled a long dagger out and handed it to me. Luna shifted her crossbow into a spear. Alex breathlessly asked, "Are you ready girls?"

Alex flew from above, her fists crackling with electricity, Luna stayed back, jabbing Hydra in every weak spot she could find. I tried to stab him but his scales reappeared, rendering frontal assaults useless. I was too close this time and he succeeded in swallowing me. I felt the same sensation of being swallowed that I felt back in Lake Ontario. I used the dagger and cut around me, 360 degrees. I felt the head fall off as I tumbled out of the limp neck. I was covered in monster blood and saliva which smelled really gross. Alex and Luna helped me up. "That was amazing!" Alex said, "We didn't even-"

She stopped midsentence, making me worry about what was behind me. I turned around and I saw two heads splitting from the single neck Hydra had. "Fuck."

_It makes sense now. Hydra growing more heads. I wonder why I didn't realize that earlier. _I dodged a bite and a tail swipe retrieving my original dagger. Alex's electricity was almost useless against Hydra. Every time she zapped one head into a dead husk so that it wouldn't grow, the other head would bite off the dead husk, allowing more heads to grow. By the time we had gone through Hydra it had sixteen heads, all of which we were overwhelmed by.

We were about to be cornered off the tower but I saw Teddy finally climbing up to the top of the cooling tower. _Took him long enough. _He drew his white blade and yelled at Hydra, "Hey! Dragon thing! Turn around!"

It caught his attention but Hydra's tail swiped me off the cooling tower. I thought I was a goner but I felt a foothold. I looked down and realized that Teddy threw his sword at the right moment to save me. I watched from below in horror as he took on the sixteen heads the girls created. "Hey! Remember what I told you!" Teddy pleaded, "I won't let anything hurt you buddy! Just stop the destruction!"

Hydra looked conflicted. He charged Teddy but halfway in between his run, he changed into a six year old boy, his glowing eyes began to flicker. I clung to the edge and pulled out Teddy's sword and got back on top the cooling tower. Then we observed Hydra and Teddy. He had his arms outstretched like he was waiting for Hydra to give him a hug. Hydra, his eyes still flickering, went over and hugged him but the glowing eyes took over and grabbed the time bomb out of Teddy's pocket. "No!" Teddy screamed.

Hydra activated it, his eyes starting to flicker again. He winced as he crawled over to the edge. "Please go… I don't think I can… I can't stop it."

Teddy dived as Hydra fell off to the inside of the tower and grabbed his hand. I realized this was the moment I had in my dream. Alex already had flew Luna to safety and was coming back for me and Teddy. I went to Teddy's side and held him. Hydra groaned, "I can't… can't."

Teddy had a determined look in his eyes and shouted back, "Yes you can! Fight it! You don't need to do anything Dyson says!"

As Hydra's eyes flickered, his body began to deform. Scales growing in random patches, a wing grew out of his back, and the hand that Teddy was holding onto began to form claws. They bore into his forearm but he still held on. "You can't do it Teddy. Let him go."

He looked straight into the boy's eyes as he transformed again and again. "No." he grimaced, "I can do this. I can save him!"

Even though he wasn't Percy I could see how Teddy was a lot like him. He was willing to sacrifice himself for a boy he hardly knew, just because he wanted to, not for any selfish reasons.

The time on the bomb was down to fifteen seconds. Alex arrived next to us, tugging at our collars. Hydra's eyes bursted into a glowing green for the final time. Instead of trying to break free from Teddy, he was now trying to claw at his face. And for the first I saw Teddy lose hope. Something in his eyes seemed to break. I whispered in his ear, "Let him go."

Just when I thought my dream would become a reality, Teddy loosened his grip and let him fall into the tower, the bomb still blinking visibly he fell farther and farther down. I could hear his maniacal cackling even as he fell. Alex attempted to fly us off but we were too heavy and she only managed to float us away. A few seconds after our take off the tower exploded into green flames. "Shit!" I screamed.

Hydra had said that the building was now run by gas and I saw it was true as other surrounding buildings and towers exploded after it. Alex was buffered by the flames and we fell like a rock into a nice cushiony parking lot. Once we stopped rolling I got up, still nothing was broken but the fall and the flames had made me dazed. Alex and Teddy were both unconscious. Luna was still somewhere out there but I couldn't wait for her. I lost consciousness before I could take another step.

* * *

When I woke up I literally sprung out of bed, ready to blow up everything. "Whoa there warrior goddess. Calm down and lay down." Luna was feeding Alex bits of ambrosia, next to her was Teddy who was also still unconscious. "You guys fell pretty hard. It thought you were all dead."

I could tell she was completely distressed and I patted her back. My head was still spinning and my whole body felt like it was on fire but I managed to crawl my way over to Teddy. He had a nasty burn on the arm with four fingers. I laid my hand on his forehead. He was burning up. "What's wrong with him?" I asked.

Luna put a wet towel on his forehead. "I don't know. Alex has it too. I think Hydra had some sort of poison on his claws. I mean we didn't get scratched and we're fine but they both have scratch wounds. I mean, I assumed that was the reason."

Alex was worse off than Teddy. Her skin was turning into a pale green which was probably bad. "Ambrosia hasn't been helping either. I fed enough for them to wake up and feel at full strength but the poison is somehow blocking the effects of ambrosia. Only serious god power would restore them."

"How are we going to find a god in… where are we again?" I said.

"In a hotel. In New York. I caught a cab and trust me it was tough trying to make us seem normal enough to ride a cab."

Luna handed me an ambrosia square and I chewed it slowly. My strength returned to me but there was still the matter of Alex and Teddy slowly dying. Luna dug in her backpack, "Maybe we can call Percy. I have a drachma in here somewhere…"

I had no idea what she was talking about but I assumed it was something helpful. She pulled a giant gold coin out of her backpack and ran to the sink and left it running. Then she pulled the curtains open, letting the sun shine through. "Can you spray the water into mist?" she asked me.

I willed the water from the faucet to spray a bit near the window, creating a weak rainbow. "Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me Percy Jackson in New Rome."

The rainbow immediately shifted into an image of Percy who was enjoying a moment with his daughter. Addie saw us first and poked Percy. He turned around and waved to us. "Kara! Luna! Um… what's up?"

Luna lifted Alex so that her face was visible to Percy. Percy immediately gave a funny look at her. "Ew. What's up with her face? Gross, maybe you guys should get that inspected."

Luna rolled her eyes. "Yeah thanks a lot Percy. Because we didn't know what to do when we saw them like this. We want to know how we can cure them. Ambrosia isn't working and I think only god power will work."

Percy scratched his chin and appeared to be thinking. Something that didn't happen often. "Well if you're still in the New York area I suggest you get to Camp Half-Blood. Farm Road 3.141 Long Island, New York 11954. I'm pretty sure that's the address. Dionysus is the camp director there and if he's on a good day he probably won't help you."

"Oh well thanks for that" I said as I rolled my eyes. "We totally need a lazyass god to help us heal our dying friends."

Percy shrugged, "Chiron's also there too. He's a master at antidotes and whatnot. He's a lot more helpful."

Luna set another wet towel on Teddy's forehead. "Whatever that has the potential to help we have to do. Kara if you're willing to we can go to Camp Half-Blood. At this point it's our only chance."

I nodded and Percy gave a fatherly concerned face. "Kara… stay safe."

He waved his hand through the message, disconnecting us from him. Luna and I packed all our stuff and left the hotel, carrying an unconscious demigod each. Funny enough, the taxi drivers didn't exactly care about unconscious riders. I figured it probably happened more than once. Luna paid with a platinum colored card and we arrived at Camp Half-Blood. From the outside it looked like a strawberry farm but I knew it was much more. We climbed the hill to a giant tree. The hill overlooked most of the camp and although it didn't have a city like New Rome, it was teeming with demigods. Twenty eight cabins were set in a circle, with more and more being built. I could see a coliseum, a volleyball sand pit, a massive forest, and a solitary big blue house. Luna gave a look at me while she shifted uncomfortably under Alex's weight. "Let's start at the giant house."

Campers gave us strange stares as we waltzed right to the house but we ignored them all. On the porch a satyr with curly brown hair, a middle aged man in a wheelchair, and a pudgy man in a Hawaiian flower print shirt were playing some sort of card game. The satyr gasped as he saw who I was carrying. The wheelchair guy just stared gravely and the pudgy man just sighed. Luna spoke first. "Erm… Is Chiron or Dionysus here?"

The sky rumbled and the pudgy man rolled his eyes. The wheelchair man spoke, "Speaking. And young woman, please be careful how you throw around the god at present's name. Grover it is your turn."

I looked over to the pudgy man that I realized that he was Dionysus. _No way he's a god. Couldn't he make himself more… appealing?_ He glared at me like he heard what I thought and laid down his cards. "I do believe I won this time you old centaur!"

Chiron laid down his cards and Dionysus shouted with glee. The satyr put down his cards and he just flipped. The god blew up the table and kicked the house door open screaming, "WHY CAN I NEVER WIN ZEUS? HAVE YOU CURSED ME IN NEVER WINNING A GAME OF PINOCHLE?"

He yelled Ancient Greek profanities in the air as he disappeared from our sight. Chiron pointed at a large porch bench. "Lay them on the bench" he pointed to the remaining seats that weren't blown up, "Sit and tell your story."

We explained from the literal beginning. Teddy's beginning. Or at least the bits he told me. The whole time the satyr just fidgeted and chewed on a cushion. Chiron sighed and rolled his way off the porch. Grover dragged our dying friends off the porch but when I turned back Chiron was a full grown centaur. How he kept it all in one wheelchair I had no idea. Chiron lifted the unconscious bodies on his horseback.

We walked to the hill we were just on which kind of ticked me off but I followed silently. Grover and Chiron deposited our friends beneath the tree where a golden fleece and a dragon were waiting. After fighting a dragon myself I can't say I was too excited about seeing another. Grover took the fleece and draped it over our friends. "What…"

But Chiron silenced me. We waited a good five minutes until I tried to ask again, "What exactly is supposed to be happening?"

Chiron draped the fleece on the tree again and scratched his beard. "This is interesting. I cannot cure this new type of poison nor the fleece. Although god power is enough to heal your friends, Mr. D is… busy. I suggest you call Apollo, he is often lenient to… "Cool" demigods."

Luna crossed her arms, "What is that supposed to mean?"

Grover coughed and I could see he was trying to cover a laugh. Chiron too looked like he was trying to suppress a grin. My shoulders drooped a bit, "How bad is it?"

**A/N: Again, please tell me if you want long chapters or shorter ones! And remember to favorite, follow, and review!**


	15. Alive and Not So Well

Let me just say beforehand that the children of Aphrodite are complete nightmares. When Chiron said "cool" demigods, he really meant "hot" demigods. They decked us out in clothes, jewelry, makeup, and magic hair grower. They mashed my hair with the magic liquid and lengthened my hair so that it went down farther than my shoulders. I was forced to where a white dress similar to a chiton along with a white cotton belt with a golden buckle. They dabbed my face with gross makeup making me look too girly. They placed a gold arm bracelet which pressed against my well-toned arm. The end product was disastrous. At least in my eyes. The temporary cabin leader squealed when she saw me, "You. Look. Amazing. Apollo will surely answer your call."

I put on my combat boots and prepared to leave the dreaded cabin but they left me one more surprise. I got out of the cabin, my combat boots replaced with high heels. Luna came out after me and she looked absolutely beautiful but she was having the same struggles as me. Together we hobbled to Chiron and Grover who were trying not to laugh. "There's got to be another way to do this." Luna grumbled.

Chiron smiled, "It's either this or you could dance under the sun for three hours with his sacred cows."

"That would have been easier!" I complained.

Grover shrugged, "Gods don't change so often. He made the new way to call him only so long ago. You should be lucky that Apollo made it like this. His sacred cows are mean."

Luna and I glared at him while he cowered behind Chiron. "Now all you have to do to call him is to sacrifice for him. Preferably something from our lunch table."

Chiron carried us on his back because we couldn't walk more than three yards without tripping. He stopped at a large brazier where a table of food was lying. I desperately wanted to dig in but I knew Apollo wanted it. I literally through the table inside, everything burning, releasing a wonderful scent into the air. _Apollo, get your butt over here._

I imagined that Luna was thinking the same thing. It looked like the sun split into two and one started to descend to us. I covered my eyes as it floated down. When it got a little less brighter than the sun I opened my eyes. A handsome man walked out of a Ferrari and smiled to us. "Hello Half-Bloods!"

He was incredibly handsome but he also looked like a complete idiot. Apollo looked too young for a three thousand year old god. He only looked a few years older than me. He examined me and Luna. "Hello ladies, how about" he turned his cheek to me. "A kiss?"

My hand moved on its own and slapped Apollo's cheek. A red hand print formed on his cheek. He frowned and looked at Luna. "I'm going to guess you fine girls aren't interested."

Luna nodded angrily while I impatiently explained our predicament. He nodded after I explained. "Well that slap is gonna cost you sweet lips."

My face grew hot and I held back my fist from caving his face in. "Aphrodite stole my lyre back at Olympus. She's held onto it for three years and I think it's been a bit too long. Retrieve it for me and I'll heal your friends." He snapped his fingers and glass of nectar appeared in his hands. "And Luna. Be careful of Aphrodite. She might be really… tricky."

He snapped his fingers and I felt something tug my stomach really hard. My vision blurred and when I could see I was in front of the Empire State Building. Luna held onto my shoulder for support and stood back up. "Olympus is on the 600th floor. We should probably get that lyre fast."

We walked to the front desk where a bored man was reading the newspaper. "600th floor please." Luna said.

The man didn't even look up as he said, "Sorry kid. No such floor exists." Like it was a line he had rehearsed.

I brought my fist down and created fracture lines on the granite. The man barely blinked and tossed us a card. "Make sure no one sees."

We swiped it near the elevator and a new set of doors appeared which we entered. Luna pressed the 600th button and we ascended, listening to _Stayin' Alive_. Olympus was beautiful. I often had visions of it before but it looked completely new and rebuilt. On our left there were temples all lining up to the throne room. The 11th one was made of pink marble with giant gold doors that clashed horribly with the marble. Luna looked at me grimly. "I guess that's where we have to go."

We knocked on the door first. When no one answered I kicked it open, leaving a dent on the doors. Inside it was bright pink and there were mirrors almost everywhere. It smelled worse than the Aphrodite cabin back in camp so I wasn't too optimistic on meeting the goddess. Just as we were about to wander around, the goddess herself appeared in front of us. She squealed, "My door! Luna Grace! Kara Jackson! I expected better from you two! Oh by the way I love your hair."

I couldn't tell what color her eyes were. Or her hair. But I got that she was complete beauty itself. Instantly I wondered why my hair wasn't as long as hers or why my eyes weren't as clear as hers. I shook away the thoughts and spoke in a firm voice, "Lady Aphrodite. We need Apollo's lyre to heal our dying friends. Do you have it?"

"Of course I have it my dear. It's one of my most prized possessions! I can't possibly give it back to him!" she gave a devilish smile. "Of course unless you perform a small favor for me."

I didn't pay much attention while she talked. I was too busy trying to rip off the gold arm bracelet that was killing my arm. I heard Luna complain, "How long will that take?"

Aphrodite shrugged as she looked in one of her many mirrors. "Oh I don't know. Three to four days."

Luna stamped her foot in anger. "We don't have that much time. Don't you have anything else you want to see?"

Another creepy smile tugged on Aphrodite's lips. "Well I couldn't help but think about young Teddy. I promised to make Percy's life interesting and I plan to do the same with him." Aphrodite finally stopped inspecting herself. "I want you to make Teddy's love for you so strong that he would die for you. By the winter solstice. If you fail Teddy will die. Oh my, this will be such a wonderful love story!"

Before any of us could complain, she disappeared, a golden lyre replacing her. I picked it up and it immediately turned into a guitar with a sling. I slung it on my shoulder and took a look at Luna. She was stone cold and had a look of pure fear on her face. I rubbed her shoulder, "Don't worry about it Luna. Aphrodite shouldn't be trusted." She nodded but still looked clammy and as sick as Alex.

We raced to Camp Half-Blood where Apollo was waiting by Alex and Teddy, drinking his glass of nectar still. When he spotted us he called me. "Hey sweetie! You got my lyre!"

I threw the guitar onto his lap and he began to strum it. It sounded beautiful but it was no time to start swooning. "Now save my friends!" I yelled.

He got in so close to me that I could smell his nectar smelling breath. I thought he was going to kiss me but he backed off and shook Alex and Teddy until they woke up. "Wait." I said. "You literally did nothing to them. How did you wake them up?"

He smiled and gave another strum on his lyre. "I won't let these demigods just die! I knew you'd get that lyre for me." He leaned in and whispered, "And I was feeling a little soft spot for you." I was about to slap him but he got up and strolled to his car, "Goodbye Kara! Remember, I'm free every night!"

His Ferrari flew into the air and merged with the sun. I felt really flustered that a god had just flirted with me. My head was spinning as I fell on the bench next to Teddy and Alex. He stared at me in wonder. "Did the god of light just flirt with you?"

Completely quiet. That's how Teddy was after he had been revived. He didn't speak. He never went outside. He sat in his bed all day and only ate when I brought him food. It was cool at first because I didn't have to hear him yammer all day but it started getting annoying after the first few days. I had a talk with him at night, three days after he was revived.

I sat next to him on his bed. He paid me no attention while I laced my fingers with his. Despite me being created before him, I always looked to him as the older brother. And seeing him in a moment like this really made me confused. "What's wrong?" I asked.

He stayed silent but started to absentmindedly twirl my hair. I still hadn't cut it since it grew longer but I liked it a bit this way. I was about to punch him until he finally spoke. "I couldn't save him."

I knew he was talking about the kid he let go. I immediately felt guilty but I tried to counsel him. "It's not your fault. You saw Dyson get complete control in the end. There was no turning from that."

He gave me a look of pure disgust. "What makes you think we're any different? We were born earlier than that kid. What if Dyson just moving his pawns for a greater good? We're pawns in his game. Nothing more than that kid."

I opened my mouth to speak but he started talking again. "I saved you. I saved myself. But I couldn't save him."

"So what are you going to do?" I asked.

He sank his head into his hands. "I'm going to keep low. Try not to provoke Dyson. There'll be less deaths that way."

I whipped a paper from our drawer. By lucky chance I grabbed the right one. I showed it to Teddy and asked, "What does it say here?"

He frowned. "My bucket list."

I pointed at number six. "And this says?"

"Find Dyson."

I tossed the paper back onto the drawer. "You made a commitment to yourself. If you can't even do that maybe you don't deserve your soul."

I was afraid I crossed the line but he stayed timid. "Lay off Kara. I messed up. It's over."

I shot up from the bed and yelled at him, "You're giving up because you lost once? Listen! You're going to fail so much in your lifetime!"

He sarcastically replied, "Wow. Thanks."

I continued, "But you can't just give up after one loss. Some people are depending on you. I'm depending on you. My point is… my point is you can't give up. I know what you're capable of and a loss like that kid is something that'll make you stronger."

He buried his head again. I stopped at the door and shot him a dirty look. "If you're not willing to fight. If you're not willing to oppose Dyson and what he's doing… then you're just… you're just… YOU'RE JUST AAARGH!"

I screamed as I kicked the door clean off the hinges. The earth slightly quaked each step I made. If Teddy wasn't willing to move on that was his problem. I turned back once but Teddy was already gone.


	16. Old Friend

**A/N: The POV is switching to Teddy again, meaning the voices in his head are returning. Just be aware that the italics is the voice of the smart guy and the bold italics is the voice of the idiot. And the reason I'm updating two days in a row is because I'm going to San Francisco for Christmas:)**

It was raining as I stepped into the empty subway. And subways were never empty in New York. I waited on the bench, shaking the water off my hair. Another man ran down the stairs from the rain and sat next to me. I didn't get a glimpse at his face but I knew exactly who he was. "Funny to see you here Dyson."

He was dressed in a black trench coat that covered his inner clothes. Other than that he had black gloves on which he took off and stuffed in his pockets. He waved to the air, "Oh well it's nice to enjoy a moment of peace and talk with an old friend."

"Old friend?"

Dyson pulled out a newspaper and showed it to me. I couldn't read the headline but I could see the picture. It was the abandoned power plant. My stomach tightened as I thought about the innocent boy I couldn't save. "You've caused me quite the trouble. More than half my organization has been destroyed. I'm impressed."

He took back the newspaper and sat quietly for a while. "You've proven that you're the most productive clone ever built. And I'm afraid you have been most… aggravating."

_**Well I guess this is how you'll go out. Listening to your creator talk about how amazing you are.**_ "I will give you the choice. Leave this subway. Return to camp. And leave me alone. Or we can just end you right now."

_Well that's a little unfair. He never gave us the choice. _I thought more on what Kara said to me. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate but the sound of the incoming train distracted me. My legs carried me up. They seemed to want me to walk away. But that's not how I played. "I will never give up." I said.

He sighed and tossed the paper in the waste bin. He stood up and put a hand on my shoulder. "That is rather unfortunate."

With lightning fast speed he pushed me back with one hand, right into the train. I was stuck onto the side of the train, clinging for dear life as the train sped its way through the tunnels. Passengers gave me strange looks but they didn't seem to care much more than that. "Surprise!"

Dyson smashed my head into the window. Then the next. And the next. And the next. He was as strong as Kara and as fast too. He reached in for another window smash but I blocked his hand and jabbed him in his stomach. I climbed to the top of the train with Dyson right behind me. "You can't escape." He said.

He hooked left which I blocked but I missed the uppercut and it struck my jaw. I was dazed as he stalked towards me again. I tried to tackle him but he grabbed me by the shirt collar and slammed me onto the train roof, denting the metal. I stayed on the ground as he punched me again. "AARGH!"

He punched me through the ceiling and into the car. He landed on me and pulled a dagger out of his coat and tried to stab my face. I grabbed his wrists but he was still too strong. The dagger ran from under my left eye to my jaw. Blood blinded me as I pushed him off. I staggered up as he twirled his dagger around. "You can't beat me Teddy. I created you. I know all your tricks."

He swung at my head but I ducked, making him slice a pole. He lunged at my stomach but I sidestepped. I kicked the broken pole off the ground and held it up. Not the most useful weapon, but it was all I had. Dyson dodged my jab and brought his blade down towards my face. I quickly smacked the dagger out of his hands and jabbed his chest. He tripped over his coat and fell over. "Looks like there's some things you haven't learned about me."

I brought the pole down on his chest but he caught it with his hands. Once again I crashed straight through the ceiling. Dyson came back up wielding my pole. _Nice. You lasted more than thirty seconds. __**That's twenty-nine more seconds than I did.**_

He swung at my feet but I jumped and kicked him in the stomach. Dyson groaned but he retaliated with speed. He jabbed me so that I was on the end edge of the train, trying to catch my balance. He gave a little push and I fell. Right onto the railing at the bottom. I climbed back on to the top where he looked surprised. "You've lasted longer than your previous counterparts. I'm impressed."

He swung at my side but I took the hit and tackled him off the train. Both of us clung to the side of the train. _Nice tactic but attacking head on won't work. _He jabbed my side with the pole while I just tried to cling to the train as best as I could. _**BLOCK! **_

My hand grabbed the pole on its own and wrestled for its control from Dyson. We were both holding onto the train with a hand and foot, meaning that if a wall came within three feet of the train we would smash right into it. And of course that was when a wye junction appeared. The walls were more than narrow enough to crush us. I let go of the pole and pressed myself against the train.

Dyson didn't notice the junction. I could've let the walls crush him. But I didn't. I pulled him close to the train as the wall skimmed our backs. When the walls grew wider I climbed back onto the ceiling, followed by Dyson. He was shocked and I was too. _Why did you save him? __**Yeah, why?**_

"Interesting. You're really something special aren't you?" Dyson asked.

I was petrified as he swung the pole and whacked me out of the ball park. I fell on the rails, my bones feeling like they were on fire but nothing was broken. It took me hours to finally limp out to the next station where all the mortals stared at me funny. I groaned as I rested on a bench. I didn't notice the little boy until he poked my cheek. "Is that real blood?"

The kid had blonde hair, blue eyes, and one of those really bubbly attitudes. I mopped up the blood on the face and touched the wound on my face. There was no water around. Or ambrosia. It would probably turn into a scar. "Yeah. Why?"

He gave a confused expression. "I dunno. It looks familiar!"

Now that I thought about it, he looked very familiar. For a moment I could remember him clearly. An angry and betrayed expression. The only thing that was missing was the… scar. I touched my face and felt the fresh wound. I imagined the wound on the boy's face and I was sucked into a vision.

_A blonde man that resembled the kid was lying on a broken marble floor. He had a scar that traced from under his eye to his jaw. His hands were burnt and raw, his eyes flickering a golden glow. He was holding out a hand, like he wanted me to give him something. My hand extended and gave him bronze dagger. I thought he would stab me. But he stabbed himself in the forearm. A spot that would've been impossible to hit. _

_He yelled in pain and the golden glow seemed to disappear. I saw a younger Annabeth and Grover gather around him. I crouched down next to him. It was obvious he was dying._

"Hello?" The boy snapped his fingers under my nose and I came back to reality, "Are you dreaming or something?"

_Maybe he chose rebirth? __**Or maybe he's just very incredibly similar to the guy. **__Let's go with the first one. _"What's your name?" I asked.

He grinned and said, "Luke!"

The name sent shivers down my back. I was about to talk again but I was interrupted by a score of monsters that tore down to the station. Among them were Dracanae, hellhounds, and a lion thing I couldn't recognize. He had the face of a man but a body of a lion and a tail of a… spiky thing. He spoke in a French accent, "Ah! Perseus Jackson and Luke Castellan!" He completely butchered my last name, like he was saying Jacques. "I'll be able to kill two bugs with one stone!"

I pulled Luke behind me and corrected him, "Actually it's two birds not two bugs. Plus my name is Teddy Jackson. Jack-son. Not Jah-ckson. And I don't think this kid's last name is Castellan."

He shot a spike out of his tail that I dodged. He stalked his way towards me while the other monsters followed. I had no weapon. I couldn't see out of one eye. And most importantly I had to worry about protecting another kid. So far I wasn't having any luck at that. "Come on this isn't a fair fight!" I complained.

The French guy shot another spike at me which I caught in mid-air. He looked mildly impressed as the dracanae went forward. The first one experimentally jabbed my stomach. With lightning quick reflexes I ripped the spear out of her hands and jammed the spike into her shoulder. She disintegrated, leaving behind a pile of ash and a curved sword. "Who's next?" I asked.

The hellhounds pounced on me but I sliced them to ashes and threw myself at the dracanae. There was no defense. I tore everything apart until all that was left was a mutant lion surrounded by ashes. He growled and sent a volley of spikes at me but I batted them all away. "C'mon!" I yelled. "You've got to be better than that!"

He pounced on me and I sank the sword into his hide but he didn't disintegrate. He jammed a spike into my shoulder and sliced my arm up. I finally swung my spear and knocked him into the rails. He growled and prepared to pounce again. "Thanks for playing." I said.

A train ran him over. After the scrimmage I was feeling completely drained. Luke looked frightened to what happened around him. I put my finger to my lips, "Shhh…" and I ran out into the rain.

**A/N: Luke is not going to be a recurring character, I just wanted to give a peek at what he would've done after his death. Hopefully you won't kill me for mentioning him ^_^ but I had to make the chapter somewhat longer and this was the dumbest way I could do it. Thanks for reading and remember to favorite, follow, and review!**


	17. My First Prophecy

**A/N: Sorry for not updating for a while. When I came back from vacation my account wouldn't let me access my stories or read other's stories. It was basically me being paranoid about this story for a few weeks which sucked. **

**Three Months Later. December 18th**

_Dyson didn't notice the junction. I could've let the walls crush him. But I didn't. I pulled him close to the train as the wall skimmed our backs. When the walls grew wider I climbed back onto the ceiling, followed by Dyson. He was shocked and I was too. Weak. Unworthy. The words vibrated in my mind and plagued my dreams._

_I disappeared from the scene and mist appeared around me. My feet began to sink under the mist and I felt my whole body being consumed by it. When it started to crawl up my neck it suddenly started to draw off me. Finally, when it was gone I spotted my pure white sword drinking the mist. A different voice vibrated into my mind. "Wake up… WAKE UP"_

My eyes opened and I was staring up at Alex's kaleidoscope eyes. She was sweating like she had just finished training but that couldn't have been possible, it was only the morning. I rubbed my eyes and sat up, "Did I miss breakfast?" I asked.

Alex picked a pair of old socks from my cabin floor with her dagger and wrinkled her nose. I snatched them from her and stuck them on my feet. "You missed breakfast and lunch. Dinner should be soon."

_Dinner? Wow we must've been asleep for hours. __**Maybe the dream had something to do with it. **_I slipped my shoes on and made a grab for my glasses. Yeah, I said glasses. A couple of months ago I finally realized the reason I was no good with a bow was because I was nearsighted and my ADHD eyes couldn't handle the blurry pictures. "Dinner?"

Alex smirked and helped me up. She opened the door and sure enough, the sky was dark and the stars were starting to appear. She grabbed my hand and we walked to the dining pavilion. "Even Percy's amazed. Annabeth told me even he never slept that long."

Kara suddenly crashed in between us, tearing our hands apart. She grabbed us by the shoulders and began to walk with us. "'Sup guys? Heading for dinner? Great because I am starving!"

I never mentioned it to her but Kara always seemed to be getting in the way. At least whenever I was near Alex. Before I could speak Alex's brother also bounced next to us. "Hi Teddy! Are you gonna teach me how to ride a pony soon?"

Before I could answer the conch shell blasted into the air. We separated and walked to our respective tables. For the first time in history of Camp Half-Blood we had families in the Big Three tables. At least Poseidon and Zeus. The Hades table was always empty, although I did see a man occasionally walk into the cabin. "Merry Christmas!" Percy said.

Kara and I sacrificed some food and sat down. "Percy. Christmas is in seven days."

He didn't say anything back but I could swear I heard him say, "Scrooge."

The reason a bunch of parents were at Camp was because of Christmas. It was technically my first Christmas and apparently Annabeth wanted it to be with "family". Annabeth was already planning for the "best Christmas ever" but so far I was more caught up in Dyson. I was thinking so hard that I didn't even notice Rachel creeping up behind me.

Her eyes were glowing a horrifying green as she approached me. The whole dining pavilion went quiet as she spoke, _Approach seeker, and ask._

Percy nudged me forward. Even though this was a complete random question, I answered with something I actually wanted to know. "Where's Dyson?"

_The children of Sea, and the company they choose_

_Shall face the son of Magic with much to lose_

_The moon leads them to their prize_

_Two souls meet their demise_

_Love will prevail in the end_

_But death will cause the hero to descend._

Everyone was staring at me. One of the things I hated most. Kara grabbed my arm and escorted me out. We stopped at Cabin Three where she pushed me on my bed. "What the hell was that?" she yelled.

Why she was blaming me I had no idea but I shrugged anyways. She pulled at her hair as she paced around the cabin. She didn't cut her hair after her "make-over" so her hair now went down to her lower back. I liked her better that way. She looked less intimidating but that didn't really stop her. "This is bad, this is bad." She muttered.

She kicked a bunk bed, destroying the wooden legs. Kara sat on her bunk and covered her face. I sat next to her and patted her back. "What's the worst that could happen?"

_ Death will cause the hero to descend__**. Two souls meet their demise.**__ Face the son of magic with much to lose__**. Don't know if those are even mildly important but uh…**__ Pretty much the worst that could happen is everything._ Kara shook her head. "So many things. Mainly…"

She stopped mid-sentence. "What? Mainly what?" I shook her really hard but she didn't respond. "What! Really, it's killing me!"

She winced when I said "killing". Kara ripped my hand away but I replaced it back on her shoulder. She grabbed my arm and flipped me onto the cabin floor. "For gods sake! There are more important things than you Teddy!"

I flipped over and kicked her off me. She threw a punch but I ducked and tackled her into the wall. Kara punched me in my soft spot and put me in a headlock. I winced as she restricted my movement. "Tell me." I choked out.

She tightened her grip, nearly crushing my windpipe. "You're in no position to be making any requests."

I bit her arm and threw her off me. She tackled me and wrapped her legs around my neck, choking me again. I pulled her long hair and she started to scream as I gagged. The door opened, Annabeth staring at us from the door way. She pulled us apart from each other and sat us on opposite beds like we were children. "You two are siblings! Don't let a prophecy tear you apart! Now you two are going sit and talk like civilized human beings."

She walked out the door but before we could continue killing each other Annabeth popped her head back in the room. She gave us the evil eye then went back out. Annabeth no longer peeked in the room but I had a feeling she could still see us. I glared at Kara, "Mainly what?"

She glared at me. "This relationship you're having with Alex… it's going to kill you."

My face grew hot and I prepared to go in a full rant but I bit my tongue. _Fighting each other isn't going to get you anywhere. __**Yeah just make up and go kick some booty. **__Or you could get your quest ready. I propose that the original quest members should be brought along with us. __**Yeah whatever. **_"Never speak of this again." I whispered.

She rose from her bed, obviously angry. I thought she was going to pound me to the ground but her expression turned softer. "Fine. We have more important things to worry about. The quest. We have to choose the members."

"Well isn't it obvious? Alex, Sammy, you, me, and Addie." I said.

She crossed her arms and gave me an annoyed look. "What about Luna?"

"What about Luna?"

* * *

Within an hour we had all packed up and were dropped off at Central Park in the harsh snow. Our final quest members were Addie, Kara, Alex, Sammy, me, and much to my annoyance, Luna. It wasn't that I hated her, it was more that we drifted apart a bit and it was hard to hold a conversation with her. "What are we doing here?" I complained, "We don't know what to do except follow a stupid moon!"

Sammy shrugged. "Don't know man but if we're going to stay in Central Park for a while-" Sammy turned into a cat and stretched on the snow. He paced a bit and laid down. "Mrow?"

Over by the frozen lake Kara, Alex, Luna, and Addie were arguing on what to do. They all looked hostile and ready to kill each other but that didn't mean I was going to do anything about it. I scratched Sammy behind the ears and he began to purr loudly. Then suddenly I felt my ears prick up. Sammy's ears had done the same. He stared at me in confusion. "What was that?" I asked.

Kara seemed to have noticed it too. She shut everyone up and we listened more closely. I could hear a distinct howling but not the good kind. Kara pulled out her knife and ordered, "Grab your stuff. We need to leave."

A pack of wolves streamed out from the forest, their teeth gleaming in the moonlight. A gross looking guy stepped out of the shadows after them. It looked like he was once a king but got tossed into the dump. He was hairier than a regular human and his teeth were as sharp as the wolves. I didn't recognize him but Alex apparently did. "Lycaon."

Lycaon grinned as his wolves gathered around us. "Alexandra Grace. Years ago your parents escaped my jaws because of those accursed Huntresses. But today I get revenge."

He pounced on us with surprising speed but Luna acted quicker. She shot an arrow right at his head but it sank through his head and flew away. He smiled and took a swipe at Alex. She ducked and tried slashing his stomach with her long dagger. "Celestial bronze has no effect on me." He yelled triumphantly.

He pounced again but I drew my own sword and batted him away. My sword surprisingly made contact. It didn't give him any type of wound except for the mist that started to trail from his skin. "What the?" he asked.

He barked and his wolves began to surround us. Sammy transformed into a lion while everyone else drew their weapons. _**So this is how you go out. At the hand- at the paw of a dog. How will we write that in your eulogy?**_

Before I could snap back a horn blasted into the air. A separate pack of wolves tumbled from the trees and attacked the first pack. They were smaller and cleaner looking but they were certainly much stronger than the first pack. Among the mayhem several of the wolves I deemed "bad", attacked us. Alex resolved in blasting everything with lightning while Sammy tore them apart with his jaws. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Addie and Kara controlling the lake while Luna tried her best to knock the wolves away with her fists.

I thought I was doing pretty well, cutting through countless wolves until Lycaon tackled me from the back. He would have sank his teeth in my neck if it weren't for the white wolf. It tackled Lycaon off me and tried to hold him off. He only had to swipe once to put down the wolf. He jumped on me again and tried to bite me but a silver arrow appeared on his shoulder. He howled as he jumped off me.

More arrows poured into Lycaon and his wolves so they all ran away. But I was more concentrated on the fallen wolf in front of me. It had slashes in its side, the blood rushing quickly. A bunch of girls poured out of the trees. They were all dressed in silver with bows. A girl maybe sixteen with short black hair and a tiara on her head stopped by me. Another girl, possibly twelve, with auburn hair and ancient silver eyes stopped by me too. They looked gravely at the wolf. The younger girl said, "We might as well put her out of her pain. She cannot be saved."

"No!" I yelled. Immediately I felt fifty pairs of eyes glare at me. I chose my words more carefully, "Maybe I can save her."

Lake water coiled around my hands and I pressed them on the wounds. The water seemed to glow but maybe that was just the moonlight. When I removed my hands the wound was sealed like nothing ever happened. The older girl whooped with joy. The younger one helped me up. "No bites?" she asked.

I shook my head and sheathed my sword. Fifty eyes were still glaring at me. Even the ones that were helping my friends. "I don't mean to be rude or anything but who are you?" I asked.

The little girl smiled. "Can you not tell, Theodore Jackson? I am Artemis. Goddess of the Hunt."

"Oh." I said lamely.

"Does my age surprise you?" she asked.

My mouth wouldn't work so I just nodded. The older girl laughed. "Wow. Annabeth was right. You are a lot like him." She saw my confused expression and she introduced herself, "Thalia Grace. Lieutenant to Lady Artemis."

She acted friendly and a little bit awkward unlike everyone else as she stuck out her hand. "Like Thalia's tree?" I asked.

She winced but before she could explain Artemis took over again. "Come Theodore Jackson. We will discuss the matters of your prophecy."

Tents were already set up around the park and my friends were nowhere to be seen. Thalia and Artemis lead me inside a tent but on the inside it was huge. Several skins were on the floor and hanging on the tent walls marking the amount of animals she hunted. She sat behind a table with Thalia sitting next to her. "I have heard the prophecy." Artemis started. "And I cannot help you in any way. The ancient laws forbid me from interfering with quests."

Thalia stared at me like she was wondering how I would respond. Artemis continued, "But I can send some of my huntresses with you. Perhaps Thalia and Phoebe can go with you." She waited for my reaction and said, "Judging by your silence you are either in awe of my magnificence or terrified of me."

"A little bit of both." I muttered.

_Should we be comfortable with this? __**I am. She's hot. **__She's a maiden goddess. __**Which means she's still fresh! **_Artemis frowned like she heard what the voices in my head said. "Your friends should be outside by now. I will send Thalia and Phoebe after we leave" The wolf I healed earlier walked in the tent at Artemis's feet. She scratched her ears and looked up to me. "Aurora saved you earlier. And you returned the favor…"

"I don't follow."

The goddess sighed in frustration. "Do you know the conditions my huntresses must follow?"

To be honest I had no idea. She must have noticed that because she started to rub her temples. "My huntresses cannot be active in any relationships with a male. In turn they live immortal lives and hunt with me. The same goes for our wolves. We are connected emotionally and mentally."

The wolf—Aurora crawled out of Artemis's reach and laid on my lap. Artemis gestured me to take action. I scratched her behind her ears and she let out a sound that seemed halfway between a low growl and a purr. The goddess smiled, "See? She likes you!"

I let a smile creep on my lips and I continued to scratch. **You can stop now. **A completely different voice had entered my mind. It was feminine and… regal. Thalia smiled, "You don't seem so surprised hearing a voice in your head."

I shrugged and patted Aurora. She got off of me and nodded her head towards the outside. **I'll leave you for now. But be sure to come back out human and not jackalope. **Artemis smiled. "Do not worry. I haven't turned anyone into a jackalope for…" she frowned. "Nevermind."

My stomach lurched a bit and Artemis smiled again. She began to talk again, "Before I send you out I think another gift is in order."

She pulled a silver bobby pin from her hair and handed it to me. _**Oh sweet. Now we can pull that messy hair of yours into an orderly fashion. **__Maybe it's a joke. _"Oh I assure you Theodore. It is not a joke."

Again she seemed to have read my mind. _**Creepy. Doesn't that ever get weird? **__Try putting it in your hair. _I stuck in my hair so that my bangs stuck up and gave them an apprehensive look. Both of them seemed to be trying to control their laughter. "Out of all males in the world I think I could tolerate you Jacksons the most." Artemis laughed.

"Uh… thanks." I muttered.

Thalia plucked the pin off my head and bent it. Immediately the pin elongated and turned into a silver bow. I also noticed that quiver full of arrows appeared on her back. The goddess snickered at my dumbfounded expression, "I have a feeling you'll need it."

_**Which basically means that she knows what's going to happen but she's just giving you a tease on what's about to happen. **__I can't even argue with that. _Thalia handed me the pin and I stuck it in my pocket. "Although I cannot help you directly, I can send indirect help. Thalia and Phoebe will go with you. I may be able to send some additional help later."

She signaled me to leave. My audience with the moon goddess was over. Outside the tents were already gone, the huntresses already packed up and huddled in a giant group. They glared at me as I walked to my friends. Aurora was already near them. **Good. You're human. **"Good. You're human." Addie said.

The tent behind me disappeared and Artemis left to the group of huntresses. Thalia and a beefy girl walked toward us. Before I could blink the remaining huntresses and their goddess was gone. The beefy girl knocked me over as she walked. "Hey watch it!"

She pulled a knife on my throat and growled but I already had my sword at her neck. "That's enough." Thalia pushed us apart. "Teddy. You're the leader of the quest. Where do we need to go?"

Phoebe gave me a venomous look as I searched through my brain. Then it clicked. "Florida. We start at Florida."

**A/N: Thanks for reading and sticking with me so far into this story! Remember to Favorite, follow and review!**


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